Endless Night - Heartless City Sequel
by sweetandsimpleutterings
Summary: (Heartless City) It's been five years since the tragic final act that ended in blood, betrayal, and death. A new drug is filtering through the city's underbelly and leaving a trail of death in its wake. The man known as Paksa Adeul is facing the threat of usurpation from within the walls of the empire he has built... (continued)
1. Prologue

**Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel**

_''Every morn and every night_

_Some to misery are born._

_Every morn and every night_

_Some are born to sweet delight._

_Some are born to sweet delight,_

_Some are born to endless night.''_

-William Blake, Songs of Experience

**Synopsis:**

It's been five years since the tragic final act that ended in blood, betrayal, and death. A new drug is filtering through the city's underbelly and leaving a trail of death in its wake. From abroad, the man known as Doctor's Son is facing the threat of usurpation from within the walls of the empire he has built, as the organization he's vowed to destroy turns his own weapons against him. To come out the victor, Jung Shi-Hyun will have no choice but to request the help of those from his past, in particular a young woman who is haunted by nightmares and walks her own deadly path.

It is a race against time as love lines are reformed, alliances made, betrayals discovered, and the dead are avenged.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with Heartless City, JTBC. Original characters are mine however.

**Prologue**

Seoul

Music pulses through the club like the pounding of blood in one's ears. Amidst the heavy throng of giddy club-goers, there is a boy who is listening to a song only he can hear. It rings through his ears and snakes down through his fingertips, curling into the sharp nails that bite into his palms.

Beyond the club's dim haze and the dazzling flecks of lights flickering off metallic dresses, a private movie plays on behind his eyes. He's staring out at the smooth, shiny floor, but he cannot see the waving hands and worried faces directly in front of him.

He is standing in a small and dusty room with floorboards weighed down by years of turmoil. The air smells of blood, fear, and his own cowardice. His nose is pressed against the floor and he can't move or breathe; he can only wait for the next lash of the belt to bite down his back, for the flames to lick a trail of fire across his skin.

Tears mixed with sweat and grime run down his face. His teeth clench tightly against the effort to not make a sound; to not breathe, to not move, to not let out the strangled cry fighting to escape from his throat. His fingers splay futilely against the boards and press down so deeply...

In the club, the boy's fingers curl around the bottle in his hand and he's no longer that little child who waits to be thrown against the wall or down on the floor. His body jerks and he whirls around to face his oppressor, his own flesh and blood, and he smashes the bottle into the leering face. The bottle shatters and the its jagged edges cut his hands, but the boy doesn't feel the pain.

He's no longer the powerless, innocent victim that he was all those years ago. He clenches his weapon in his hand; lifts it up, and brings it down over and over again. The song reaches its roaring climax and unrestrained laughter bursts from his throat.

The song dies down and its final notes seem to choke him as the images continue to play on relentlessly before him. The face of his aggressor grows larger and fuzzier with each note, until his entire vision is filled with noise.

The boy drops down to the floor, smiling victoriously, oblivious to the growing chorus of horrified screams around him. His hand comes to a rest next to the unseeing eyes of the girl on the floor. His red-coated fingers entwine her blood-soaked tresses.

**Author's Note:** _And so it begins! Thanks for waiting so patiently! It's much darker tale that I previously started but now the storyline has been analyzed, characters properly portrayed, all the loose threads have been collected. Chapter One will be released this upcoming Monday followed by a new Chapter every Monday._

_A very very special thanks to my *amazing* editor lilahozi. I can't even put into words how much I owe you. Thanks for mentoring me and patiently guiding me through those beginning rough patches, and for sticking it out for the long haul. And thanks to aziraphale" for also patiently combing through the tangled pieces and analyzing characters and motivations alongside lilahozi! I'd be drowning without you too!_

**_For readers: I'm trying to figure out the proper category to put this story into as it seems to be the only one written about this series on this site (such a shame!) So for the moment it's chilling in the Korean section but I'll move it as soon as I figure out a better home for it. _**


	2. Chapter One - Contamination

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with Heartless City, JTBC. Original characters are mine however.

Synopsis: It's been five years since the tragic final act that ended in blood, betrayal, and death. A new drug is filtering through the city's underbelly and leaving a trail of death in its wake. From abroad, the man known as Paksa Adeul is facing the threat of usurpation from within the walls of the empire he has built, as the organization he's vowed to destroy turns his own weapons against him. To come out the victor, Jung Shi-hyun will have no choice but to request the help of those from his past, in particular a young woman who is haunted by nightmares and walks her own deadly path.

It is a race against time as love lines are reformed, alliances made, betrayals discovered, and the dead are avenged.

**Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel**

**Chapter One - Contamination**

_Vengeance__ is __Mine__, and retribution,_

_In due time their foot will slip;_

_For the day of their calamity is near,_

_And the impending things are hastening upon them_

(Deutronomy 32:35, Bible)

_Seoul_

Dr. Lee Woo-ha stared at the phone in his hand, wishing that he could make both it and himself disappear. He nervously ran his fingers through his hair, absently noting that he'd let it grow slightly past professional standards. _Indeed, there is no escaping the passage of time and one's responsibilities_, he thought miserably.

It was in these moments that he wished he hadn't been born to a roaring drunkard of a father who cared only for cards and the revolving door of women. He'd not spared an inch of affection on little Woo-ha, instead choosing to lavish his dubious attentions on whichever female happened to be hanging on his arm. Woo-ha had never become accustomed to the cloying scent of perfume that pervaded the small space he stubbornly refused to call "home."

But no amount of perfume could mask the smell of greed and corruption that lingered on the bodies of the space's occupants, not even when they died. Woo-ha had stood there, his slight frame trembling as he gazed down at his father's corpse. The body wasn't even cold before the debt collectors had started pounding on the door. Despite his young age, Woo-Ha had made up for his physical vulnerabilities with a quick mind. He offered up the only bargaining tool he had to the collectors – his future – and signed the contract in blood; he shed no tears.

Now twenty years later, Woo-ha had found a semblance of companionship with the various men who held his contract. They had all come from broken families and crushed dreams, but most still strove to make the best of their lot in life. They made up the new revolving door in his life, replacing the heady scent of perfume with the metallic smell of blood. He found he preferred the latter, a stark reminder of human nature, over simpering pretenses.

It was easy to imagine that if fate had spun a slightly different thread Woo-ha could have been the one with the battered knuckles instead of the one mending the damage they caused; but this didn't make delivering bad news any easier. _That was the tricky thing with gangsters; you didn't know if they were going to take the news calmly and assess the next steps, or beat the messenger bloody first before thinking about the next steps. _From past experience Woo-ha knew that though the gangsters always avoided his surgeon's hands, his face was still fair game.

Pushing his wire-framed glasses slightly higher up on his nose, Woo-ha breathed deeply before punching in a phone number he'd long since committed to memory. There was no use putting it off any longer. He had been sitting on the results of the final analysis for an hour and there was no denying the bleak confirmation. He'd been on alert since he received the first call from Kwang-sung, the contact here in Seoul, and the papers clutched in his hand confirmed his fears.

The phone rang twice before it picked up and silence greeted him on the other line. There was no need for pleasantries; the man on the other end had little use for them and this was anything but a social call.

"There's been another body found," Woo-ha stated precisely, "It displays the same signs as the previous five victims. Initial test results hypothesized that death was a result of overdose, but further analysis shows the amount consumed would not have been enough to induce an overdose. Furthermore, the same chemical pattern was found in the stomach contents of all the victims. There's no denying that each victim's death was the result of the drugs they consumed, in pill or powder form."

"You've confirmed that the drugs are ours?" A calm, cultured voice asked.

"The analysis of the drugs' chemical pattern displayed a match with our unique chemical signature.." Woo-ha paused, "However, the chemical signature is different; the composition of these drugs include new material which wasn't in ours originally. I did an test on the sample you had sent from the factory and that sample does not contain that additional pattern, only the original signature. Upon further examination of the drugs I found out that they were all from the same shipment."

"So the drugs found in the victims have been altered," the voice said, "Is anyone else aware of the contamination?"

Woo-ha thought carefully before answering, "I can't medically hide the fact that the drugs are the cause of the deaths, but a fairly reasonable explanation I can give is that the deaths were the result of impure drugs that had been cut with poisonous components. No one will be alarmed by this; new drugs appear on the market all the time as a result of some kid trying to play chemist and make some fast cash. This is the safest explanation I can give without drawing any attention."

"That will have to do for now." The voice answered shortly. There was an unmistakable thread of tension in the voice that hadn't been there previously. The line went dead without further comment.

Woo-ha put the phone down and stared at it once again. _This is much worse than I thought_. In the four years Woo-ha been communicating with his boss he'd never heard such emotion in his boss's voice. If Woo-ha didn't know better, he would have said it was worry.

_Tokyo_

The man on the other end of the call, mentioned only in rumors spoken in dark corners as Paksa Adeul, resisted the urge to loosen the tie that suddenly felt abnormally tight around his neck. Ignoring the questioning glances of the two men beside him, he quickly dialed a number. Letting the phone ring twice before hanging up, he re-dialed and waited for the voice on the other end.

"Did the Doctor confirm the results?" Kwang-sung, his second lieutenant and head of operations in Seoul, asked.

"Your early guess was right. The drugs are from the same shipment and tests show they've been tampered with. There's no denying the fact that they're ours. So far none of the dealers are aware since a random death or two in this business is a daily occurrence. But if the deaths start to increase, people are going to start asking questions; and judging by the dates that the victims were found, that frequency is increasing."

Paksa Adeul tapped his fingers against the edge of the window as he looked down at the city he'd called home for the past five years. A cool gust of wind whistled through the open window and teased at his hair like a playful lover. He had grown fond of Tokyo; it had been here that he'd shed the white coat he wore on his arrival and re-donned his black suit. The world, with the exception of a very few close friends, believed that Paksa Adeul was dead. In this new land, he'd risen from the ashes and painstakingly constructed an empire using the calculated ruthlessness he'd kept in check during his years as an undercover agent.

There was no longer any man he called master, no one that he took orders from. He chose his own loyalties and made his own allegiances in his pursuit of revenge, however questionable his methods may be. He'd silently watched as other drug empires crumbled under the constant pressure and stepped in to claim the spoils. Now, it seemed he was being challenged by another lord in the city that he once promised to claim as his own.

Mentally brushing aside his thoughts and the memories attached to them, he turned his mind to the task at hand. Someone was threatening his empire. Someone who wasn't honorable enough, even in this dark world where some lines were drawn, to thrown down the gauntlet in front of him but instead resorted to deceit and trickery. Paksa Adeul turned his attention back to his 2nd lieutenant on the line,

"Devote your entire attention this matter. Let one of your subordinates take care of any daily matters and focus solely on finding out what happened to that shipment and how our drugs were contaminated. Report any leads, no matter how small or insignificant, back to me," he instructed, "We need to get this contained before we lose the trust of our dealers."

"Understood." Kwang-sung replied.

Both men hung up without a goodbye; Kwang-sung's thoughts were already honing in on the task that he had been given. Any leads that he found through his investigation would be crucial and the urgency in Paksa Adeul's voice confirmed the seriousness of the matter. A small number of deaths was easy to overlook, but it had only been a few days since the third and fourth victims had been found, followed by the death of the fifth victim a day later. Whoever was tainting the drugs was playing a deadly game and very soon the blame was going to fall on their heads.

Kwang-sung sighed, realizing that he would have to cancel his plans tonight and that it would be days until he was able to see Jin-ae, his mistress. He'd have to bring her a bouquet of flowers for their next rendezvous, red roses to match the soft petals of her lips. Perhaps they would silence the tongue-lashing he was most certainly in for.

Two Weeks Later

Dr. Lee Woo-ha walked through the quiet hallways of the hospital, thankful for the silence this seldom-used area offered. Most physicians seemed to be wary of the morgue floors but Woo-Ha had discovered long ago that dead men make the best companions. It was here that he could escape from curious eyes and peel off the façade of quietly unassuming doctor that he played.

His pager suddenly went off and Woo-ha looked down to see the details of the call. Dead male. Victim of physical violence. Autopsy requested. The room he'd been called to was just three doors down from his current location.

Resigning himself to the loss of personal time, Woo-ha stepped through the doors of the autopsy room. The body was still covered with a sheet, except for the left arm dangling by the side of the examination table; The left arm that bore a curling dragon around its wrist.

Shocked speechless, Woo-ha stepped closer and stared at the arm, his memories transforming the pallid skin tone in front of him into living flesh.

Kwang-sung took a long drink of beer and slammed the bottle playfully down next to Woo-ha's. "Woo-ha!" he exclaimed, a grin curving his lips, "You need to lighten up and live a little bit!"

Woo-ha had smiled himself as he picked up his own beer. "Medical surgeons aren't exactly known for their bright and bubbly personalities. Besides, don't you think I'd draw attention to myself if I decide to follow your example and 'live life to the fullest'?" He'd joked about Kwang-sung's love for pretty ladies more than once in the past.

"I'm not saying you should be scandalous but you need to enjoy life more!" Kwang-sung said, laughing.

"You don't think I'm scandalous enough considering the company I keep?" Woo-Ha pointedly looked at the exposed tattoo on Kwang-sung's arm. Kwang-sung usually wore long-sleeved shirts, but when he drank he was prone to rolling the sleeves up. He'd scared off bar patrons often enough that long ago, Woo-ha had decided they could only have drinks outdoors.

"That's what you need!" Kwang-sung drunkenly exclaimed, looking at his own arm. "You should get a tattoo! Be a little bit dangerous!"

Woo-ha's beer almost went up his nose from the sudden laughter than rose from his throat. He laughed longer and louder than he had in a very long time. After that, Kwang-sung had taken to sending him tattoo designs every now and then, with each one growing more outlandish than the last. He'd even suggested a matching tattoo to his own at one point.

Woo-Ha blinked back the memories and stared at Kwang-sung's still body. Dazedly, he peeled the sheet back to reveal a barely recognizable face. The brutality that had been unleashed on Kwang-Sung was extreme. Someone had taken a tire iron and tried to beat his face inward. If not for the tattoo, Woo-ha would not have recognized Kwang-sung.

He heard the door open behind him and he stepped away, phone already in his hand. He signaled to his co-worker that he would be back before stepping outside and walking down the now too quiet halls.

Seoul

Paksa Adeul, or Jung Shi-hyun as a select few called him, turned his second lieutenant's keys over in his hand before inserting them into the lock and opening the door to Kwang-sung's office. He'd received Kwang-sung's autopsy papers upon his arrival in Seoul and he knew the latter's death had not been a quick or easy one. Kwang-sung had been tortured and left barely alive for hours before someone had gone back to finish the job. His death in itself was a small relief; he would never have been able to walk again after being blinded and having his legs broken. Shi-hyun knew that Kwang-sung would've never been able to live as a cripple.

Despite the sadness Shi-hyun felt over Kwang-sung's death – and he did grieve, for Kwang-sung had been a loyal man – Shi-hyun hoped that his death had not been in vain. Kwang-sung had been searching for leads to the tainted drugs and Shi-Hyun intuitively knew that his death was in some way related to his investigation, which meant that he had discovered something. Shi-Hyun only hoped that Kwang-sung had been able to leave behind some hint of what he'd found. If nothing else, Shi-hyun promised to exact revenge on those responsible.

The door opened, revealing an office that had obviously been ransacked. Kwang-sung's murderers had probably captured him here, Shi-hyun thought. He stepped over debris from shattered bottles and splintered chairs. He bypassed searching through the destruction for a clue; any evidence would have been trashed already.

He walked towards the back wall and lifted off a rather provocative painting of lovers caught in embrace – Kwang-sung always did have rather interesting tastes – to reveal a keypad. He dialed the combination and the safe opened with a click. Shi-hyun pulled out the stack of money on the top shelf, reached towards the back and lifted open a secret panel. His fingers felt along the hidden compartment and came into contact with a small card; he pulled the card out.

It was simple white card; The word "Vanity" was written in elegant script in the front with an address in smaller print beneath it. Running his fingers along the surface, Shi-hyun could feel a subtle embossing of some shape, perhaps some kind of flower. An unbidden thought suddenly rose up –

There had been a girl in his past, a past that sometimes came fluttering in his mind during quiet moments, a girl who had been like a wild flower.

Shaking his head slightly to stop such thoughts from taking root, Shi-hyun examined the card; he made out the handwritten words "The Madame". The back of the card was empty except for one name that was written in Kwang-sung's scribble – "Mi-young."

Shi-hyun picked up his phone and called his first lieutenant, a feeling of cool triumph unfurling inside him.

"I have a task for you."

Author's Note: Special thanks to my editors lilahozi and aziraphale, you two are amazing beyond words! Chapter Two will bring Soo-min into the picture and you'll find out how her five years have passed. As always, feedback is appreciated!


	3. Chapter Two - Fever Dream

**Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel**

**Chapter 2 – Fever Dream**

* * *

_Dreams in the dusk,_

_Only dreams closing the day_

_And with the day's close going back_

_To the gray things, the dark things,_

_The far, deep things of dreamland._

_Dreams, only dreams in the dusk,_

_Only the old remembered pictures_

_Of lost days when the day's loss_

_Wrote in tears the heart's loss._

_Tears and loss and broken dreams_

_May find your heart at dusk._

- _Carl Sandburg_, Dreams in the Dusk

_11 months ago_

_A young woman dressed inconspicuously in sweater and jeans pressed herself against a wall as she peered through the darkness at a large door at the end of an alleyway. The only signs of life apparent were the stray cats that pawed at her feet and begged for food. Her team had been watching this area for two weeks now; she'd been staring at that door for so long she could sketch out its every bump and crevice from memory. _

_At this late hour, the neighborhood should have been echoing with the sounds of jovial drunk men as they staggered home, but this area was eerily quiet and the silence helped to hone her senses into focus. She and her team had been running around in circles for months trying to chase these people down, until they'd caught a small lead a month ago that ultimately led them to that door; they were positive the deal was supposed to go down behind it. As the hours ticked by, the girl had a sinking feeling that tonight was going to prove as fruitless as the previous nights had. The long hours of concentration and stillness were starting to wear her down; the faint tremors that were starting in her legs signaled to her that it was time to call it a night; her team was expecting her to call in soon._

_She shifted slightly, rubbing a slender hand against the back of her neck to relieve the stiffness. The exhaustion due to lack of sleep from spending one too many nights in a row on surveillance had dulled her senses; she barely had time to react to the arm that suddenly swung out of nowhere, before a blinding pain erupted in her temple and she went down soundlessly. Only a stray cat bore witness as the young woman was carried across the street and bundled into an awaiting car._

_The slam of car doors rang out, followed by a screech of tires, and then all was silent._

_Present_

Soo-min sprang awake in bed with a scream bursting from her throat. Her long black hair laid in a tangled mess around her neck, beads of sweat dripped down her face, and goose bumps covered her entire body. A slanted scar below her left collarbone, a memento from her kidnapping, pulsed with ghostly pain. She clutched her sheets to her chest and curled herself tightly into a ball and tried to mentally will away the tremors wracking her body, whilst gulping down breaths of air with the desperation of a drowning man. After what seemed like hours, she raised her head and glanced at the clock on the nightstand besides her – _3:30 am._ She grabbed the notebook sitting a top of her nightstand, its pages showed the wear of something that had been handled repeatedly.

_Arm had tattoo markings... _Soo-min wrote. _Some animal – a cat... a lion? Colors – red, black, gold? _The dream was quickly fading away, receding back into the recesses of her mind, waiting to attack in the middle of another night. She rubbed her fingers against her temples to concentrate, but the dream stubbornly refused to resurface. _At least I have some physical marker_, she thought as she stared at her notes, _I'll have to call in a favor to see if I can sneak a cross reference of gang tattoos. _

Soo-min reached across to the other side of the bed, grabbed a tank top atop a neatly stacked pile of shirts, and stripped out of her sweat-soaked clothes. In the eleven months that had passed since her abduction and "experimentation," she'd become familiar with the routine of waking up in the middle of the night gripped by terror, with sweat pouring down her back and her heart racing so hard it could've burst from her chest.

_And always, the image of a girl's pleading eyes, overflowing with tears that trickled down over bruised and bloody lips, accompanied by the repeated litany of, "Please, don't leave me…"_

Soo-min squeezed her eyes close in aguish and fought back the tears as the image blazed in her mind. Guilt doubled down in the pit of her stomach like a punch from an abusive lover. Guilt was a painful weight that Soo-Min knew all too well by now; she'd been plagued with it from the moment she stumbled out of her prison, leaving behind a helpless, abused girl. Soo-min had promised the girl that she would come back to save her, a promise that turned out to be empty. The girl had haunted Soo-min's dreams ever since.

Eleven months ago, Soo-min's unit had been investigating a vice ring rumored to be dealing in all sorts of shady activities. The leads had been few and far between, but the team had finally caught a break and managed to zero in on the location that they believed a deal was supposed to occur at. Instead of catching the culprits in the act of committing a crime, she herself had been knocked unconscious and kidnapped. If there was one act of fortune that could be ascribed to the event, it was that the men who captured her never realized that she was a cop; instead, they mistook her for a random homeless person who had been lurking too close to the premises.

Still woozy from her head injury, Soo-min had woken up to discover that she was locked in a cell with her hands bound together. She quickly took in her surroundings and noticed a twin cell diagonally opposite of hers occupied by a girl who was either asleep, unconscious, or lying still on a narrow cot. Soo-min tried calling out to the occupant. The girl raised her head and stared blankly at Soo-min.

"Who are you? What is this place?"

No response. Soo-min wasn't even sure the girl was lucid.

A door opened and closed somewhere, and three men walked in; Soo-min saw the girl visibly shrink back. One man entered the cell while the other two waited outside. Despite Soo-min's vision being blocked, she could see the man producing a syringe and heard the girls' muffled wails, then short scream. The man exited and joined the others who flanked the cell as observers; one of them was intently scribbling on a clipboard.

"Drug's reaction time should be shorter this time." One of them said.

The seconds and minutes ticked by at a snail's pace. Then it began; first, soft gasps which gradually morphed into sobs punctuated by shrieks and incoherent ramblings. Soo-min was paralyzed by horrified fascination as she watched the girl go berserk in her cell – she looked as if she were wrestling with an invisible spectator. After a long, long time the sounds gradually died away to sporadic sniffles. The men turned and headed towards Soo-min.

With the taste of fear coating her mouth and choking her throat, Soo-min had fought against the men as they attempted to physically subdue her long enough to force a syringe full of drugs into her. She succeeded in making them pause, and even managed to injure one of them before they dealt her an intense blow to the back of her head which momentarily crippled her. They seized the opportunity and stabbed the needle into the side of her neck. Despite being held down and semiconscious, Soo-min had still felt the contents enter her system and flood her body. They left her sprawled on the ground, and took up the same observers' positions outside her cell – three pairs of pitiless eyes boring down at her. As one of the men had previously predicted, it wasn't very long before the drug started reacting and she succumbed to its effects.

Not even the pages of her notebook contained all the details of the hallucinations that took place afterwards. Soo-min could have withstood visions of rooms filled with snakes or terrible fanged monsters, but this drug was far crueler than that; it preyed upon her most painful memories, fears, and vulnerabilities and turned them into weapons against her.

_She was a little girl again, lost and wandering through the zoo crying out for her mother, who had abandoned her without a word. She found her mother and ran up to her, clutching at her leg and begging not to be left behind. Her mother peeled off her small arms and kicked her daughter aside, and told her that she was a mistake, that she should've never been born, that she didn't want her and no one ever would want her…_

_Elephants …_

_The orphanage's "bedroom" was filled with a dozen small bodies. Soo-min stared up at the dark ceiling above her head and imagined that it was a night sky speckled with a thousand stars. Her back stung from the lashes she had received earlier that day from the head nun for misbehaving in class..._

_Kyung-mi stood in front of her, soaked in blood with a bullet hole to her forehead, pointing an accusing finger at her and blaming her for causing the death of her and her unborn child. She had known Soo-min was a good-for-nothing brat, everyone had warned her about Soo-min being trouble, and Soo-min had proved them all right…_

_Kyung-mi shape-shifted into Hyung-min and Soo-min felt the ghostly punches that he dealt her for causing his lover's death…_

_Merciful darkness…_

_Jung Shi-hyun stepped out in front of her, his emotionless black eyes filling her vision as he told her that she'd been nothing more than a simple dalliance, a one-night thrill, and he wanted nothing else to do with her, before turning his back and walking away…_

_Stick and stones may break bones, but words will break the spirit._

Over the next three days, Soo-min relived countless permutations and variations of those visions and more as her kidnappers kept administering the drugs to her, to the point where she could no longer separate fact from fiction and she wasn't sure if she was dead or alive, and didn't care. The drugs violated her mind and crushed her psyche, tearing down all the walls she had built over the years and turning her back into a scared, lonely, abandoned girl.

When the effects of the last batch of drugs had worn off, Soo-Min had faked still being under the full influence. It was easy enough to conjure up the images; they had become seared into her brain. She'd been huddled on the floor, whimpering, throat raw from screaming and crying, when one of the guards instead of the usual two had come in to check on her. When he reached down for her, she'd put all of her remaining strength into delivering a blow to his head. He'd gone down and she scrambled through his pockets for keys. She found them and had just thrust the door open when the guard was back up on his feet and attempted to stab her through the heart, but missed and struck below her collarbone instead.

She knifed him in his stomach with her elbow, which made him drop the knife and sent him reeling backwards; she hit him again with a desperate blow to his head and he went down like a log.

Ignoring the pain from the wound as she felt blood trickle down her chest, Soo-min ran out. She passed the other cell and despite herself, paused and went back when she heard the girl crying out at her. The girl grabbed her wrist through the bars,

"Don't leave me. Oh god, don't leave me. Don't leave me here. Please."

"I can't. I'll be back."

The alarm went off. There must've been security cameras monitoring the place.

"Take me with you!"

"I can't. I'll be back. I promise. I promise I'll save you."

Soo-min forcibly pried herself from the girl's viselike grasp. She had no choice; she hardly had the strength to save herself, much less someone else. The girl's desperate cries followed after her.

She raced out a door into the open, barely noticing that it was the middle of the night. The shadows were her friends and cloaked her in semi-invisibility as men dogged her in hot pursuit. She managed to lose them and ran in the opposite direction until she had finally given in to exhaustion and pain and fainted. She was discovered the next morning lying unconscious, bruised and bleeding, in the middle of a road by a random passerby.

It took a week for her to recover to the point where she was able to talk about what happened to her. During those days in the hospital, she'd drifted in and out consciousness as the remaining drugs filtered out her system and her body began to heal itself from the damage. The damage to her psyche would take much longer to heal. The police canvassed the area around where she was found, and located the facility that she had been kept at, but the site had already been cleaned out. They hadn't been able to find any traces of the scene that she had described, and everyone there, including the girl, had vanished into thin air. No further evidence was found and no witnesses stepped forward. To make matters worse, the trail on the vice ring that had led to the events had led to nowhere.

Despite her superior's concerns, Soo-Min spent the majority of her time post-recovery combing through missing persons files, trying to find the girl that she had been forced to leave behind. She prayed that the girl had somehow survived and managed to escape, even though deep down inside she knew it was hopeful thinking at best. Even if the perpetrators weren't caught, she owed it to the girl to give her any measure of justice she could. In spite of Soo-min's best efforts, the case eventually went cold.

Months later, a large number of drug overdose cases started appearing. Soo-min hadn't paid any attention to them, until one evening she was flipping through the witness reports and noticed recurring similarities between multiple reports. A terrible familiarity ran down her spine as she'd read through the pages. Witnesses (when they were present) described the victims to be screaming at empty space, as if they were suffering from some sort of terrible hallucination. In one report the witness described the victim to be calling out to his dead wife before he shot himself; another report talked about the victim repenting for some terrible crime he'd committed in the past. In almost every single case, the victim had either died from or had been seriously maimed in his attempt to stop the visions. One person threw herself off of her 35th floor apartment; another tried to gouge his eyes out, unsuccessfully. Sometimes there was more than one victim – one incident involved a group of teenagers attending the same party.

The similarities between the hallucinations Soo-min had suffered and the ones reported by witnesses were too close to be coincidental. The recent spate of deaths were not the result of a drug overdose, but the result of in-taking a more toxic version of the drug that she had been experimented on with. Soo-min reported her suspicions to her superiors, convinced that she had finally found a tangible lead and explanation. However, they found her claims to be dubious and un-based. Who had ever heard of a drug dealer "tainting" his own drugs and killing off his own business? It made no sense.

Then two months ago, another "overdose" victim was discovered and Soo-Min had found herself staring into the terrible, lifeless eyes of the girl that she'd left behind in the warehouse.

The girl's name was "Hye-soo."

Soo-min had gone straight to her superiors, convinced of her suspicions. She lashed out at them this time when they again dismissed her claims; she was sent for psychiatric evaluation, and the police's psychologist pronounced her as suffering from a nervous breakdown due to the post-traumatic effects of her ordeal. Her trauma was causing her to see links and associations where there weren't any. Soo-min was given two choices: 1) drop the case, accept a temporary job suspension while undergoing serious psychological counseling, or 2) attempt to further pursue dubious leads and be fired immediately.

By this time, Soo-min had reached her breaking point and had angrily refused to go through any more psychological counseling; her superiors put her on an indefinite suspension and Soo-min was seriously considering walking away from the job altogether when Chief Yang had gently but firmly pulled her aside and suggested that she take the suspension, lay low and not attract any further attention to herself for the time-being. So Soo-min had swallowed her anger, accepted the suspension, and decided to continue her investigation on her had been a month ago.

Fortunately, Soo-Min still had friends in the force, although the number had dwindled rapidly in the aftermath of her ordeal. She'd called in a favor and requested access to do a background check on the girl. She managed to trace the girl to a small apartment and spoke to the landlord, who mentioned that she hadn't seen Hye-soo for a while but that Hye-soo had always kept to herself. The landlord let her into Hye-soo's room after Soo-min flashed her badge and she carefully combed through Hye-soo's place.

That had been a week ago.

Picking up her notebook again, Soo-Min flipped to the last page and carefully removed the card she had placed there. It was a simple white card with a faint, raised embossing of a flower; she lightly ran fingers over it. _It had been a long time since she last wore flowers._ The card was blank except for one word. Bringing the card closer, Soo-Min breathed in the scent of Hye-soo's perfume that lingered on it.

"Vanity," Soo-min quietly read aloud.

* * *

**Author's Note:** _The pieces are finally starting to come together, although there's more to come before the two sides meet. The story is now positioned in the present as we see where Paksa's and Soo-min's separate investigations take them. It's a twisty path. _

_Many many thanks as always to lilahozi and __aziraphale! _


	4. Chapter Three - Collision

**Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel**

**Chapter Three – Collision**

A single light swung back and forth like a metronome against the inky darkness of the warehouse interior. The warehouse had been long abandoned and stood silent and empty, except for a single steel chair. The chair was currently occupied by a stout man whose strained gasps echoed off the walls. His limbs were duct-taped to the chair and his swollen face was battered and bloody. He whimpered through busted lips around a gag that had been roughly shoved into his mouth.

Two men approached from the shadows, while a third looked on from a short distance away. If the man, Do-shik, had been a poet, he would have compared his situation to that of being stalked by wild tigers; but he was no poet, only a man in his middle years who liked his women and his liquor. He displayed his wealth through a rotating parade of bright, garishly patterned garments and his mop of curly brown hair bore the signs of extensive perming. Do-shik currently worked as a mid-level distributor for a brand of designer drugs. The drugs were the best on the market, coveted for their purity and potency. Having tested them himself numerous times, he knew that the product was superior, which made his job extremely profitable. He'd watched as time and time again as new drugs attempted to break into the market and failed each time. There was no denying that the chemist behind the drug's composition was nothing less than a genius.

Do-shik was comfortable with the position and plushy life that distribution allowed him. He had an extensive list of street dealers from every walk of life, and money flowed regularly from the well-oiled machine. But he didn't like to get his own fingers dirty and was by no means a brave man, so he sent his goons to do the necessary muscle work when a client failed to pay on time.

It had been his own men who had attacked him – throwing a bag over his head and smashing a fist into his cheek, rendering him unconscious. He'd been shocked awake by the sharp stinging pain of salt being ground into his face. That had been before each of his fingers had been broken, each joint manipulated in a way to induce the most pain.

He didn't immediately recognize any of the three men. The man who'd rubbed salt on his face had a fine bone structure and long black hair pulled back tightly against his skull, bringing his angular cheekbones into sharp relief. There was a long jagged scar running the length of his right hairline that lent a distinctly sinister quality to his face, and his cold black eyes seemed to pierce into Do-shik's soul. He hadn't spoken a word during the entire interrogation; in fact, his entire face was wholly without emotion. When Do-shik's blood had spattered across his face, the man hadn't even blinked.

It was the second man who had done all of the talking, not that he had asked Do-shik any questions. He was tall with an arresting face and black hair shaved down to the skin, a stark contrast to the first man. As he moved around, Do-shik saw figures of demons in black tattoos that curled around his neck before disappearing beneath the collar of his black shirt. He spoke in an almost detached but taunting manner when he informed Do-shik of the torture he was about to administer on his person until he begged for death. Do-shik already half welcomed it. He'd heard hushed rumors uttered in hair-raising terror about the two men circling him and a cold sweat broke over his battered body when he realized he was dealing with The Demon and The Dancer.

But as terrifying as the two men stalking around him were, Do-shik knew that they were only following the orders of the third man, who stood back and watched the proceedings with indifference, arms folded against an immaculately cut three-piece black suit. There was a coiled tension to the man's slender, lithe frame, reminding Do-shik of a sleek cheetah poised to strike a bloody fatal blow.

Now, as the two men walked towards him, twirling sharp instruments in their hands, Do-shik realized to his horror and dismay that he was about to lose control of his bowels. He spit out blood while struggling to speak after one of the men pulled the gag from his mouth.

"Wha…aa..what do you want? Who…who.. are you?"

"Do-shik, Do-shik… you don't know the rules, do you? We're the ones who ask the questions," The Demon, as Do-shik knew him to be, said viciously. He casually picked up Do-shik's right hand and twisted his wrist to the point of breaking. Do-shik howled from the pain.

"What happened to Dragon?" The man asked, picking up Do-shik's other hand. Dragon had been Kwang-sung's handle.

"D…Dragon? What ha..happen..ed to h-him?" Do-shik recognized the name of his supplier. The last time they had had any communication had been two days ago.

"What did I tell you about asking questions?" This time, as if following an unspoken sign, it was The Dancer who rested his hands on Do-shik's shoulders before expertly breaking his left shoulder. Do-shik's world exploded in agonizing pain.

The Demon, known as Young-jae who was the Third Lieutenant, and The Dancer, known as Masa who was Second Lieutenant now that Dragon, or Kwang-sung, no longer filled the position, walked back towards their leader as Do-shik screamed incoherently and blubbered out broken pleas.

Paksa Adeul rubbed a hand against his jaw and swallowed the urge to snarl in frustration. It seemed that Kwang-sung's subordinate was an idiot who was clueless about what had happened to him. The fool didn't even know that Kwang-sung had been murdered. When Paksa had seen the bloated preening peacock being dumped into the chair, he already had his misgivings, but they needed to explore every avenue at this point.

He signaled for his men to clean up the mess; they wouldn't find any answers here tonight. Stepping back fully into the shadows, he dialed his phone and raised it to his ear. He hoped that his First Lieutenant was having better luck that he was.

—-

Soo-min touched her smoothly curled hair for the fifth time in the past ten minutes, betraying a nervous twitch. She glanced down at her dress and heels and gave a wry smile. It had been a long time since she'd taken the time to dress up. The outfit's dark crimson lace made her feel a bit like she'd been painted in blood. Ever since the incident, she'd found herself passing by the pastels and brights that made up her previous wardrobe, and gravitated towards deeper, darker colors.

At least I won't stand out like a sunbeam, she thought at she stifled the urge to smooth nervous hands over the dress yet again. She was currently standing across the street from her target, a club that was located in a sprawling manor up on a hill. The neighborhood seemed to cater to the wealthy judging by the surroundings. She'd observed more than one black limousine driving down the street and had backed off the sidewalk in order to not be noticed. But now she was in danger of loitering and the night wasn't growing any younger.

Soo-min had finally caught a small break when she'd gone back to Hye-soo's apartment the second time. She'd spotted the always present local ahjumma, so she quickly spun a story of how she was Hye-soo's old friend and was looking for her because Hye-soo's mother wasn't doing so well. She mentioned that she couldn't get a hold of Hye-soo and wondered if the woman had any idea as to Hye-soo's whereabouts.

The woman had been more than eager to gossip and had excitedly whispered that Hye-soo might have a wealthy boyfriend, since there'd been a black limo dropping her off frequently in the past. Maybe Hye-soo was now spending more time with said rich boyfriend? Soo-min, speaking calmly so as to not betray her growing hope, had asked if the woman had any idea where Hye-soo might have been meeting with this wealthy boyfriend.

The woman didn't know, but just as Soo-min was starting to feel hope quickly deflating, the woman mentioned that there had been one night when Hye-soo came home quite drunk. Normally a quiet girl, the alcohol had loosened her tongue slightly and she'd struck up a conversation with the dumbfounded ahjumma. They chatted about inconsequential things, such as the ahjumma's daily dealings and family. Hye-soo still remained quite tight-lipped about herself, the ahjumma said. When the ahjumma casually asked where Hye-soo worked, she'd started to respond before stopping herself.

"It sounded like it started with a B or a V," the ahjumma said, scratching her head, "Some fancy English word, I don't remember."

That's when Soo-min caught her break. She'd kept the simple white card she found in Hye-soo's apartment as a memento of the girl, something small to remind her of her promise to seek justice for her. The scented card also gave off a calming fragrance and Soo-min almost felt that Hye-soo herself was guiding her.

The card read "Vanity."

It had taken a quick call to a past acquaintance to find out if any club named Vanity existed. The acquaintance didn't provide much information except some vague directions as to the club's possible location. It had taken Soo-min an hour of wandering the streets to finally pinpoint the exact spot.

Now she stood several hundred yards away and observed the building. She saw women decked with jewels escorted by smartly dressed men pull up in fancy cars and disappear through the doors. From a distance she watched as visitors were stopped at the door; she observed guests presenting something in their hands; the object caught the light and looked like an old polished coin. A calling card, she assumed. Dress code was one thing, but it seemed looking the part wasn't the only entrance requirement.

Soo-min stepped out of the shadows and made her way up the hill, passing a well-manicured garden, walking up a flight of stone stairs. She bit her lip and tried not to wince at her tender feet; it had been a while since she last donned heels.

As she reached the entrance, the doorman smoothly stepped forward towards her as she approached and stood, waiting.

Soo-min summed up a dose of courage. Let's hope I have a shred of acting skills in me, she thought.

She straightened her spine and moved without hesitation towards the guard, giving him her best imitation of a femme-fatale smile. "I'm so sorry, I misplaced the coin for here and didn't realize it until I arrived. You wouldn't mind letting me through just this once would you?" She laughed prettily, "I promise that I won't forget the favor." She coyly laid her fingers against his arm and gave him a smile full of secret promises.

The guard stared at her, looking unconvinced. Soo-min was beginning to think her charade was up before it even began when he nodded and stepped aside.

"Thanks." She tiptoed up and whispered in his ear. She moved towards the door, fighting off the uncomfortable feeling of his eyes roving over her figure.

Soo-min walked through the entrance, which opened up to a wide foyer. Casually glancing left, right and up, she saw dimly lit hallways that led to other parts of the club. There was a steady stream of people moving around and she allowed the flow of the crowd to direct her. She quickly realized that the building's exterior was deceptive; the club was far larger than what she had expected. The place silently screamed extravagance and money, from the large crystal chandeliers to the embellished walls that she lightly ran her palm against. While no longer interested in such obvious material pleasures, she could still appreciate the beauty.

However, she wasn't here to admire architecture; she had another purpose. Moving through the crowd, she allowed her gaze to rest briefly on each face before moving onto the next, trying to recognize any features. It was a shot in the dark and there was no guarantee that anyone here tonight would give her any leads, but trying wouldn't hurt.

A few hours passed by and Soo-min had looked into so many faces that they were all starting to blur together. Deciding she should call it a night, she headed over the bar in order to drop off the drink that she'd been carrying for the sake of appearances. She walked to the edge of the mahogany counter and was just turning around when a man sitting at the far corner caught her eye. Keeping her face tilted down, she passed the length of the bar, averting her gaze to avoid eye contact. When she neared the man, she had to do her best to not stumble. She fixed a bored expression on her face, but couldn't help her eyes from suddenly widening.

That man… he has a lion on his wrist… a red, black, and gold snarling lion… Her heart began to pound. It had only been scant hours ago when the same lion had appeared in her nightmares. She knew with absolute certainty that the man drinking at the bar was one of the guards during her abduction.

The man was still drinking, so she moved to another spot while trying to memorize his features with quick glances at him. He had a face that could be described as sensual, but cruelty lurked in the twisted curve of his lips. He finished his drink, stood up and moved away from the bar. Soo-min followed him at a distance, her body taut with tension. The man headed for the entrance and Soo-min realized that he was leaving the club. Hardly believing her luck, she maintained a safe distance as she followed him.

He exited the club using a different route that she had entered by, and started walking down the hill. Silently cursing the man who invented heels, Soo-min hurried after him, hearing the sharp echo of her shoes against the surrounding stone walls. The man stopped but Soo-min kept going, hoping not to arouse any suspicion. If need be, she would slip into the roll of a lost partygoer.

The trick seemed to work as the man picked up his pace again and turned right into a pathway. She saw the man moving through stone sculptures before disappearing behind them. Soo-min waited a bit before following. She tread quietly through the sculptures, keeping an eye out for the man. The lights here were markedly fewer and the shadows they cast gave the sculptures almost demonic appearances. She rounded a sculpture but there was no sign of her target. Puzzled, she turned around and quickly walked towards the other side. No sign of him here either. It seemed she'd lost him. Shit.

She turned back to walk up the pathway, weaving through the statues and wanting to scream in frustration.

At least I have a face to match the tattoo, she thought. Maybe I can call in another favor and get a sketch artist to—"

In mid-thought, she found her arm wrenched behind her and she was jerked into the shadows. Twisting and turning, she moved her head enough to see her aggressor's face. It was the man she'd been following.

"You didn't think I noticed you at the bar?" he grinned, giving her arm a vicious twist. Soo-min gasped in pain. She kicked backward and simultaneously ground her elbow into his stomach. He exhaled with a slight "oof", then wrapped a hand around her neck and started choking her. She could feel his hot breath against her cheek as he panted with excitement.

Soo-min's vision started to go black from the lack of oxygen. She used her free hand to rake her nails down the hand closed around her throat. Her fingers turning red as she ripped nails into his skin; she heard a snarl of pain. He shoved her away then backhanded her with a closed fist.

Soo-min fell to the ground, her head spinning from the blow. Grinning sadistically, the man leaned down and straddled her. He grabbed her thrashing arms and pinned them over her head, digging his fingers into her delicate wrists. Despite her frantic attempts to buck him off, he didn't budge.

An awful, cold fear pierced her as the man reached into his pocket and produced a very familiar-looking syringe.

"I remember you from those months ago," He leaned closer to speak into her ear, using his other hand to wrench her head in place. "My boss was so mad about your escape that he took his anger out on me. I always hoped that one day I'd be able to pass along the favor to you, and it seems that day is today." He ripped the collar of Soo-min's dress down and ran a possessive finger along her scar. Soo-min's skin crawled with revulsion and she intensified her struggle.

"But first, a little memento for old times' sake," he purred, pulling Soo-min's arm towards him and placing the needle against her inner elbow. "I'm going to relish the sight of you writhing on the ground. It will bring back such fond memories."

Soo-min went mad with terror; she fought like a mindless animal but her small frame was no match for the man's larger physique and he slowly pushed the needle into her skin.

There was a sudden shout followed by a loud crack that rang out in the night; the man abruptly collapsed on top of Soo-min. She shoved his inert form off of her and rolled onto her hands and knees, trying to breathe through her panic attack. Grasping her chest and panting, she raised her head to thank her rescuer but the words became stuck in her throat. Instead, she ended up blurting out a name she never thought she'd have the occasion to say again.

"Kim Hyun-soo?!"

—–

**Author's Note:** _Yes, I know, I'm terrible for ending it on this cliffhanger! Due to real life picking up I'm releasing this chapter early, but next chapter will be out on Monday as normally scheduled! Special thanks as always to my awesome editors lilahozi and aziraphale! And to Akiko for the endless support, it means the world!_


	5. Chapter Four - Extraction

Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel

Chapter Four - Extraction

Kim Hyun-soo's hand froze in his inner jacket pocket where he concealed the syringe he'd picked up off the ground as the young woman recovered from her attack. He withdrew his fingers and straightened his spine as he regarded her with interest. Since he had only arrived in Seoul two days ago, the first time he set foot in the city in five years, the girl had to be someone from his past. Her hair was tangled around her cheeks and half-covered her face, making it difficult for him to make out her features, although he could see the promise of delicate beauty in the curve of her jaw, but as she lifted a trembling hand to pull her hair behind her ear - he subconsciously noted the myriad of cuts decorating it - his eyes widened in recognition.

Jin-sook's "little sister".

Soo remembered quite a few things about the girl in front of him, who was starting to rapidly collect her senses and gather her wits together. Jin-sook had been so taken with her "little sister" that she'd brought the girl with her to Paksa's place. Soo recalled the girl giving him a searching look, as if she knew him. It was not the look of a person meeting someone for the first time - even though Soo had never met her before in his life. Warning bells had gone off in his head immediately. The fact that the same girl was now at the very club he'd be sent to look into, and that she was somehow involved with a man in possession of a suspicious syringe, sent those same warning bells off again. Instincts born from and honed by his many years in the underworld told him he needed shake off the girl, extract the man, and get out.

Soo-min slowly rose up, keeping her eyes trained on the man in front of her. She had recognized Paksa Adeul's former right hand man the moment her vision had cleared, even though the reality of him defied logic. His reported demise was false, she thought. He was even listed in the police database as "deceased." She had personally gone over his profile more than once since the events five years ago. Kim Hyun-soo was a devilish "pretty boy," quick to bestow a smile on any girl. He'd also level that same smile at a man as he kicked him in the throat. She'd be a fool to let her guard down.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" She demanded.

Soo shifted his weight from one side to the other and feigned casualness, "I was just taking a fresh breath of air from the nightlife when I wandered upon a man trying to assault a girl. I figured it would be unseemly if I didn't aid a damsel in distress. You look like you've been through hell so I'll just be satisfied with a simple thank you."

Soo-min could smell the bullshit from a mile away. She narrowed her eyes, "You're lying. You're supposed to be dead. Why were you following-" Soo-min started to ask but stopped abruptly when she caught the sound of footsteps approaching; Soo turned towards the source of the noise as well. The fallen man began to stir and Soo silenced him with a swift kick to the head. He stepped towards Soo-min, pointing her in the direction of the path that disappeared between tall shrubbery, "Go that way. It leads out of this place. It would be bad if someone sees this."

"There is no way in hell I'm leaving you with him."

"I'll bring him and meet you at the exit. Go."

Soo-min stood looking torn between the exit and the approaching footsteps. She started to reach towards the man before Soo blocked her outstretched hands.

"Are you crazy? You can barely move, let alone carry a man twice your weight! I'll take care of him. Go now!"

Soo-min stared at Soo fiercely, "Meet me by the exit in ten minutes. If you try to play any tricks on me, I swear..."

Soo cut her off, "GO!"

Soo-min turned and ran in the opposite direction, glancing back towards Soo to make sure he was following her. He met her eyes and nodded as he shouldered the man's deadweight and started to move. Soo-min picked up her pace. The voices were now where she had been standing a moment ago. The path was longer than she expected, winding this way and that. She was beginning to wonder at the size of the area when she finally spied a small source of light ahead signaling an exit. She sped up her speed and burst through, throwing herself to one side and shrinking back against the shrubbery. She tentatively stuck her head out and peered back through the gap to look for signs of Soo and the man. There was no sign of them. Perhaps they had taken a different route? She waited. As the minutes passed her panic receded and a nasty suspicion, accompanied by slow, churning rage began to take over.

He tricked me, that bastard tricked me, she thought as she shook with anger. He must have sneaked out via another exit.

Soo-min headed back into the pathway. She traveled the full length of it, until she reemerged in the sculpture garden, where there was no sign of either Soo or the guard. Pushing back a scream of frustration and fury, and cursing herself for being so stupid, she went back through the pathway for the second time, escaping the giddy voices of tipsy guests.

If I ever see Kim Hyun-Soo again, I will kill him.

Paksa Adeul stared at the unconscious man tied down to a chair in front of him, a bag pulled over his head. Soo had called ahead saying that he hadn't located the woman whose name was on the card Paksa had mentioned, but had found a man who might know something and was bringing him in. His first lieutenant showed up shortly afterwards with the unconscious man and deposited the syringe and a packet of pills found on his body into Paksa's hands. Paksa immediately directed Masa to drop off a sample from the syringe and pills with Lee Woo-ha, then called the doctor and told him to immediately conduct a test on the drugs.

When the man had woken up, Paksa's men had gone a few rounds at him until he passed out. Now Min-jae stepped up, removed the bag and held down a large piece of cloth over the man's face, then poured a bucket of water directly over. This particular method of torture would create a sensation similar to drowning and it was a brutal method that could break a man quickly and cleanly. Paksa wanted answers, fast.

The man jerked awake, a scream gargling out of his mouth. Paksa signaled a stop and Min-jae removed the cloth as the man heaved, coughed, choked and spit out the water. Paksa Adeul crouched in front of the shaking, disoriented figure,

"I have questions that need answers. Do you understand?"

No response. Min-jae stepped forwards and repeated the torturous exercise. Paksa waited until the now violently twitching man finished coughing up a lake from his lungs.

"I don't like asking things twice. Make it a third time and you'll be dead. I have questions that need answers, do you understand?" Paksa repeated.

"Yes!"

Paksa pulled a white card out and held it in front of the man.

"Who is this?"

"The Madame…she's...she's in charge of the girls at the club."

"Who is Mi-young?"

The man blinked, "I don't know anyone by that name. But lots of girls come and go so maybe she's a new girl. I'm just a guard so I don't get to know the girls."

"Thank god for that because you're a perverted asshole." Soo's voice rang out, "You were about to drug and then rape that girl if I hadn't stopped you."

Paksa raised an eyebrow at Soo. You didn't tell me that part, he silently censured.

Soo gave him an apologetic look and continued, "Why were you after her? Did she turn you down?"

"No. B*tch was a subject."

"Subject?"

Despite the torture the guard had undergone, a decidedly cat-like grin crept over his face. Paksa watched the transformation impassively.

"That girl? Oh, she was special. Bitch looked like she was hanging around looking for a fix so we took her and decided to have a little "fun." We doped her up with a batch of drugs and watched as it boiled her brain for three days. She cried so very prettily." The man cackled and leaned forward. He had seemingly forgotten his pain and was now fully immersed in his story, "She was one of my favorites. She was a fighter, that one. Tried to fight off the drugs but you can't win against them. They always get you in the end. She'd screamed these names and kept sobbing until her voice gave out. Then the drugs would wear off and she'd be left lying there like a broken doll, all sad and shaking. She was exquisite."

The guard paused and shivered from the pleasure of his recollection, then the glee in his face flickered out, replaced by annoyance. "Then, the bitch managed to escape. The boss took her escape out of my skin. I've got scars that demand repayment."

Paksa Adeul's jaw clenched and disgust welled in his stomach as he listened to the guard recount his story. The man was a sadistic scum who deserved to be wiped off the face of the earth and Paksa had to tolerate his gloating in order to to pick up any possible information.

"But then, she showed up right in front of me tonight! Bitch tried to be sneaky but I recognized her right away." The man grinned, "I was just about to starting playing with her when you showed up," He looked at Soo, who was wearing a expression of disgust on his face, "Did you manage to have any fun with her?"

Soo backhanded the guard. The man jerked back and grinned at Soo. "Not your type, huh?" Soo hit him again. Paksa's phone vibrated and he stepped away to take the call, the man's groans playing in the background. It was Lee Woo-ha.

"I won't have a 100% confirmation until I get the complete lab tests back, but the preliminary examination results show the drugs the man were carrying are same as the drugs found in the victims' autopsies."

"Got it."

Paksa shut off his phone and spoke to Soo, "Woo-ha just confirmed the drugs are the same," He stalked back to the man, "Tell me about the drugs."

"The drugs? I got to play with the subjects if I didn't ask any questions. So I didn't. Why ruin a good thing?"

"Who did you get them from?"

"My boss. But after the shit storm that happened with the girl he cut off of my privileges and demoted me..."

"Your boss?"

"Yeah, the dead bast*rd. I tried to go back to get some more but place exploded and everything was lost. Fucking shame."

Where was the place? What else went on with the drug trials? Who were the other subjects?

Paksa's men punctuated each question with a vicious blow. Despite the beating, the man was only able to provide vague, unhelpful answers. After long minutes, Paksa was finally forced to acknowledge the futility of the interrogation. He swallowed a snarl and addressed his lieutenants, "The guy's low-level idiot. See what else you can get out of him and then get rid of him."

His mind washing itself clean of the perverted figure, he started walking away; Soo fell in step next to him, "Paksa…I recognized her."

Paksa looked at Soo quizzically.

"The girl I pulled him off of…I knew her."

"One of your past paramours?"

"No…she was Jin-sook's little sister, the one from five years ago that Jin-sook brought to your place. I don't know what she was doing there but -"

Paksa suddenly pivoted sharply to face Soo, seizing his shoulder harshly. Soo immediately stopped talking under it's gripping pressure.

"Who?"

"Jin-sook's little sister." Soo repeated, bewildered by Paksa's abruptly intense manner. Paksa stared at him wordlessly for a few seconds and then uttered in a hushed voice,

"Are you sure?"

Soo nodded. Paksa's hand slid lifelessly down and he stood as still as a statue. All emotions seemed to have been wiped off his face. Silence followed, a deep, cold silence that was deafening. It yawned and stretched over the inhabitants of the room and paralyzed them in its grip. Even the guard quieted down.

The pieces had been laid out so clearly that a blind man could have read them. Paksa hoped with every fiber of his being that Soo was mistaken. He had read the reports, had seen the graphic images laid out from of him. His mind confronted the possibility of putting one in the context of the other and reeled. He spun around and stalked back towards the man, grabbing his shirt and hauling him forwards.

"The girl…she called out names, you said. Did she ever call out her own name?" His voice was dangerously low.

"Yes, she screamed it towards the end, when she was hallucinating real bad."

"What was her name?"

The man smiled, rolling the name in his mouth like a favorite piece of candy. "Soo-min. Such a pretty, pretty name. I didn't have my fun with her though, not like I did with the other -"

The man stopped in mid-sentence as Paka's fist suddenly drove into his face, breaking his nose. Another blow followed immediately after and the man topped over onto the ground, screaming from the combined shock and pain. The repeated sounds of shoes making contact with flesh intermixed with cries echoed through the warehouse. Paksa's lieutenants stood off to the side as they watched the display of violence with growing concern and discomfit. The Paksa Adeul they were familiar with was controlled, implacable, and precisely ruthless. Unlike many other drug lords, Paksa was not one to resort to extreme levels crude violence; he preferred subtler, neater methods. The man in front of them who was dealing blow and blow to the captive relentlessly contradicted all those conceptions...

Paksa paused, chest heaving from his exertions, to catch his breath. The man laid on the floor, curled into a ball and twitching. The dark violence slipped from Paksa's face, leaving behind the normal, implacable mask. He hauled the man back up onto the chair, and then reached into his inner jacket pocket and removed a syringe. The broken man was hovering at the edge of consciousness, but at the sight of the needle his swollen eyes widened. Paksa smiled slowly,

"Since you enjoyed the experience of others so much, it's only fair that you get a taste of the…exquisite."

The man shook so violently he would've fallen off his chair if Paksa hadn't grabbed his arm, holding him in place.

"An eye for an eye…" Paksa whispered and with bone-breaking strength plunged the needle in brutally, emptying it's contents dry. The man let out an unholy scream that sounded like his voice was being ripped out of his body. Even the lieutenants, who were hardened to violence from their years in the drug world, cringed. Paksa stood over the man with a terrible smile playing over his face.

"Sweet dreams."

He directed an order to his lieutenants, "Leave him be. The drugs will take care of him."

Turning away, Jung Shi-hyun walked back into the shadows, which embraced him like a long-lost lover and cloaked the raging storm inside him.

Author's Note: Whew! That's pretty intense stuff to write. Next chapter continues with Soo-min making a critical decision with repercussions that will spiral through the series. A variety of important players are also introduced. Special thanks to lilahozi for your endless patience and advice (as well as the hours spent editing)! And thanks to aziraphale for going over edits and contributing your thoughts! Jess and Akiko, this story wouldn't be nearly what it is without your amazing advice, thanks!


	6. Chapter Five - Vanity

Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel

Chapter Five - Vanity

By the time Soo-min had re-run the course of events at Vanity through her mind for the umpteenth time, she found herself caught in a fury so intense that she was forced to take deep breaths to prevent herself from hurling something at the walls. With each cycle, the potential explanations as to why Kim Hyun-soo was at Vanity multiplied, each distinctly less appealing than the last.

He wasn't surprised to see the gangster. He took the man with him. Why would he take the man with him? Was he helping the man? Was the man a comrade? Are they in the same business? If they're in the same business then…Soo-min felt nauseated. Is Kim Hyun-soo connected with the drugs? Is he behind the drug experimentations? What if he knows about my kidnapping? Under the churning feelings her stomach cramped and a cold sweat broke down her spine.

To rub salt in the wound, there was also the fact that Hyun-Soo was a link to a part of her past that she couldn't allow herself to revisit. He was once linked to him, the man whose memory, despite the passage of death and time, still haunted her.

She firmly stopped her thoughts from progressing any further. She had learned long ago that going down that road threatened to bring forth emotional chaos. It was best for the past to remain in the past; revisiting it didn't do one any good. The Soo-min of five years ago had been little more than a child, impulsive, quick to give in to feelings, and transparent. Looking back, she was embarrassed by how naive and gullible she was about the world, about people, about life. She understood now the world was painted in shades of grey.

Soo-min tentatively touched her cheekbone and winced at the pain. It had been a few days since her encounter at Vanity, and during that time she had managed to put a name to the owner of the lion tattoo – Kyu-Bong. His rap sheet had been a long one, filled with charges for petty crimes and sexual harassment complaints. There was no information on his possible gang affiliations.

Tapping a finger on the desk as she carefully considered her next moves, Soo-min weighed the risks and consequences against the rewards and benefits. She stared at the white card in front of her. Finally, Soo-min pulled out her phone to dial a number,

"Hi Joo-young, it's Soo-min. I need a favor."

If Paksa Adeul knew back then how incompetent the police were, he might have re-considered his decision to join the Police Academy and become a private investigator instead. He rapped his fingers sharply against the window. Soo's police contact had been unable to obtain any information on the name Mi-Young, and details about "Vanity" and "The Madame" were vague at best. The option of reaching out to Hyung-min wasn't available. Even if the guy could have provided any useful information, Paksa Adeul didn't want to draw any attention. Considering how their last farewell went, Hyung-min would have been suspicious of any form of contact.

The past wasbetter left where it belonged, in the past. He looked over the detailed test results that Woo-ha had provided him. Perhaps in these pages there was a clue that Woo-ha's medical mind overlooked. As Paksa set his mind to analyzing the papers in front of him, he allowed himself a brief second to savor Masa's report that the scum had ended his nightmare by bashing his own head into the wall. Perhaps her tormenter's death would subconsciously give her a moment of peace.

That was the only thing he was able to give her – the chance for peace. He had long abandoned any personal claim to it.

Three weeks later…

It's amazing how easily a pretty face can make up for sub-par skills, Soo-min thought as she stood behind the counter. She watched Shin, her manager, expertly prepare an exotic-looking drink for a bar patron. The woman was eyeing Shin as though he was the drink she wanted to drown her sorrows in. Soo-min couldn't fault her taste. Shin possessed a tall, lean figure, with slightly tousled hair, warm brown eyes, and the ability to make anyone feel that they were the center of his attention. Using Joo-young's network and connections in the nightlife industry, Soo-min had been able to secure a position as a bartender at Vanity. Joo-young had of course asked questions, but Soo-min deflected her by explaining that she needed to make some money now that she was on leave from her job, and that she had some experience with service jobs. Plus, there had been that brief stint working undercover as a bartender two years ago. But she soon remembered that bartending and hostessing required very different skill sets.

Fortunately, she made a quick friend in Shin, who lent a helping hand to "Mina," her alias, when he first saw her fumbling with a patron's request. He instantly took her under his wing during her first couple of weeks, pointing out the patrons who were good tippers, what kind of little quirks certain regulars had with their drinks, and patiently explaining the intricacies of drink mixing. I probably would have poisoned a guest within the first week without Shin. He had first come to her rescue when on her second day when a man in a sharp, navy suit that accentuated his sharp cheekbones sat down at the end of the counter, away from the other tipsy guests, and had called out "Old-Fashioned" in a clipped voice. Soo-min had had a rather awkward moment trying to figure out whether or not he was insulting her sense of taste. She wasn't exactly in the fanciest outfit since she learned on day one that dresses and heels did not mix with bartending. . . She's been standing there, unsure of how to proceed, when Shin smoothly stepped in, described the ingredients of the drink, and led her through the preparation steps. The patron had stared at her when he raised the drink to his lips, assessing both creator and creation at the same time. His lack of comments suggested that they both passed, although perhaps barely. "Old-Fashioned" had dropped by the bar a few more times since then, and Soo-min was determined not to mess up any of his orders. Shin had laughed when she told him about the difficult patron, and said that such guests were common. The man was a regular and always ordered the same drink.

Soo-min did not forget her purpose for requesting this position and was constantly on the alert for any unusual activity, especially signs of Kim Hyun-soo, though she hadn't seen him at all since that night. She found herself relaxing in Shin's presence though. He had a way of slipping past her guards and causing her to laugh at his jokes despite herself.

Shin's persistent patron finally vacated her position, giving him one last longing look. He smiled politely before turning towards Soo-min with an amused glint in his eyes. Soo-min bit her lip so as to not chuckle.

"I'm going to see if any guests need re-fills," she told Shin, who nodded.

"Stick to our area," he reminded her. Soo-min absently nodded, although her mind was already mapping out ways to go beyond their designated section.

That had been one of the first conversations they had. Vanity was a sprawling club with different levels and sections, each overseen by different staff. Shin had said that their bar was situated on one of the other levels. Some guests cycled through the different areas, but by default, people seemed to stay in their preferred sections. Yet, there were exclusive areas that permitted more "privileged" guests, areas that did not admit the general public.

Soo-min's objective was to access those inner layers.

Checking back to make sure that Shin or anyone else weren't watching, she ascended a set of stairs leading from the foyer, the entrance to another section. As she slipped into a hallway and cautiously made her way down it, she noted the various doors and the laughter of drunken guests behind them. Rounding a corner, she spotted a staff member walking towards her from the far end. To save herself the trouble of coming up with an explanation for why she was where she wasn't supposed to be, she moved towards the ladies' room, disappearing behind the door before she could be seen. She was absently admiring the elegant trimmings when she noticed that she wasn't the only occupant.

There was a young woman leaning against the sink, washing her hands. She was easily one of the most beautiful girls Soo-min had ever seen, possessing a sensual, feline face and a dancer's slender build. Her dress was a deep shade of emerald green and the material screamed "expensive". Unaware of Soo-min's presence, the girl hissed in pain and reached for a towel, using it to dab at the trail of blood that was flowing down her inner thigh. Soo-min moved towards the girl, who looked up, surprised by Soo-min's presence. She turned and took a step back, wincing as she brushed against the ledge of the sink. Soo-min grabbed another towel and leaned down.

"Here, let me help." She said, reaching out a hand. The girl gave her a scornful look and knocked her hand away.

"I'm fine." She said sharply.

"Look, you're hurt. Let me just use this towel to apply pressure."

"I said, I'm fine!" The girl snapped, slapping the towel away. She brushed past Soo-min, knocking her in the shoulder and exited the room. Soo-min could hear the sound of her heels moving rapidly down the hall. She stood back up slowly. When she had bent down, she'd gotten a clear view of the girl's inner thigh. There was an intricately drawn tattoo - some sort of flower. She headed back towards the bar, conscious of the time that had passed, deciding that she would have to continue her exploration another day.

Back behind the counter, she found herself soon occupied with serving drinks to the patrons who had arrived during her absence. It turned into a busy night and so it was an hour later before she was able to catch a moment with Shin.

"Shin, I saw the most stunningly beautiful girl earlier. I thought she was some kind of model."

Shin laughed, "You get a lot of those around here."

"She had a tattoo, some kind of flower, on her inner thigh." Soo-min added, keeping her voice deliberately light.

Shin didn't speak for a few seconds, then slowly said with a raised eyebrow, "I'm not going to ask how you happened to be looking at a girl's inner thigh, but you're talking about a Lily."

"Lily?"

"Yes, Lily," Shin replied, "I'm not sure how you managed to find a Lily in this area. Did you leave our section?"

"Of course not."

"Well then, consider it your luck to have spotted a rare sighting of an exotic species tonight." Shin said, moving to polish a glass.

"Species? Plural?" Soo-min asked, standing next to him and picking up her own glass to polish.

"You know that every club has a roster of escorts with different rankings, yes? I don't know much about Lillies, but I've heard that they are 'elite' escorts. They're extremely exclusive and expensive and being a patron of them will cost you a pretty penny. As such, you should never have to interact with them. They never come into this section."

He set the glass down and laid a hand on Soo-min's shoulder. The usual, affable Shin had disappeared. "I don't know your story, but I know that you have one. We all do. Whatever the reasons that led you here, Mina, Vanity is not your run-of-the-mill club, and its patrons aren't your run-of-the-mill club goers. We prize ourselves on discretion and order. There are rules for a reason, and everyone has his place. It's best if you just concentrate on your job." He paused for a moment.

"But, if you start getting curious and asking questions you shouldn't be, you'll be fired immediately," He leaned in, his customary laughing eyes suddenly piercingly serious. "Stick to the rules, do your job well and you'll be rewarded. Break the rules..."

His words hung ominously in the air.

What Shin didn't know was that Soo-min had already seen that tattoo before. She had first come across it in Hye-soo's autopsy photos.

Soo-min looked over the edge of her glass as she studied Jin-sook. In the five years since that chain of events in which they had first crossed paths, she'd maintained a steady relationship with her "unni." After the tragedy, they had both needed someone to lean on in the aftermath. More often than not, it had been Soo-min's shoulder that ended up stained with tears. Jin-sook was a shell of herself. That steel she usually carried herself with had become brittle overnight.

It had been hard for Soo-min to watch Jin-sook mourn the same man she did, and for almost the same reasons. She felt that Jin-sook possessed a prior claim to Jung Shi-hyun; indeed she had known Shi-hyun for much longer and had been part of his intimate circle, his family. Soo-min, who had never known where she herself fit into his world, had felt more and more like an outsider with each tear Jin-sook shed. So she did her grieving in private and let Jin-sook lean on her. After all, when you count Safari, Jin-sook had lost more than one family member. Plus, it had been Soo-min who held Shi-hyun's hand and clutched him close as he drew his final breaths. At least she had been able to say farewell.

Eight months after that horrible event, Jin-sook announced she was going on vacation out of the blue. She left Soo-min a brief message saying she needed to get out of Korea and breathe in some fresh air. Soo-min was extremely relieved; she had been afraid that the unending turmoil and tension Jin-sook lived with was going to devour her any moment. Frankly, it was a miracle that Jin-sook hadn't had a nervous breakdown. Her unni needed to spend time in a place where she could absorb the sunlight and chase away the shadows.

A month later, Soo-min received a call from Jin-sook inviting her to come over for a drink. Happy to see her, Soo-min had noticed a definite change to Jin-sook that night. Jin-sook seemed...different. She had an air of contentment and peace that she hadn't before. There was a lingering melancholy in her eyes, but it seemed that she had laid her demons to rest. For the first time in a long, long time, the two of them spent the night not trying to come to terms with the past but instead talking about the future. Jin-sook had expressed her decision to pursue work related to fashion, using her connections to build a clientele. Soo-min had been happy and supportive of the decision.

As the hours passed and the alcohol sloshed in their glasses, Jin-sook's in particular, her tongue had started to loosen. She started talking even more strongly about "new steps" and "laying the past to rest." Soo-min had been confused by the sudden zeal Jin-sook was displaying, but was mostly relieved with this new Jin-sook that had emerged. Later, Jin-sook became so tipsy that Soo-min had to help her to her room. Her unni was decidedly inebriated, in fact to a level that Soo-min had never witnessed before. They'd stumbled into Jin-sook's room, where she had promptly collapsed on the bed. Soo-min had toed off Jin-sook's heels and fumbled through the drawers for night clothes to lay out in case she woke up in the middle of the night.

To this day, she didn't know whether or not she regretted that decision. As she was rummaging through the drawers, a photo had slipped from the pile of clothes in her hands and fallen to the floor. When she picked it up, she almost fell over herself. The photo was a close-up shot of Jin-sook in Paris with a carefree smile on her face. Standing next to her was a ghost. Jung Shi-hyun wore a casual, collared shirt with longer, tousled hair that played against his features. He was smiling slightly at the camera with an expression of contentment that Soo-min had never seen in person.

The shock of realizing that she had been mourning a man who wasn't dead all along, and the implications of that realization were too much for Soo-min to take in at once. Her emotional state tail-spinned. She experienced a brief moment of happiness that he was alive, which was quickly replaced by anger at him and everyone for keeping her in the dark. Why hadn't he contacted her? He must have known how devastated she'd been. Why hadn't Jin-sook told her? Or Hyung-min for that matter – surely he knew. When anger had burned itself out, all that remained was an aching sadness mixed with hurt and shame. He hadn't told her because he didn't want her to know. He had cared so little for her that he rather she think he was dead. Heart-wrenching tears of misery, embarrassment and dejection streamed down her face when she finally understood what place she had in his heart.

So Soo-min wrapped the knowledge of his continued existence inside her and used it to silence any lingering feelings. She moved on with her life. The world became a little greyer, and life became a little number. She never told Jin-sook that she knew. She never reached out to Hyung-min to ask him why. She didn't want to deal with their pitying eyes looking at her. Looking back years later, Soo-min realized that moment marked the death of the old Soo-min and the birth of the new one. Since then, she learned how to create a mask and wear it.

Now she used that mask with Jin-sook, "Unni, have you ever heard of anything about a lily being tattooed on the inner thigh?"

Jin-sook paused and raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question – "The flower?"

"Yes," Soo-min answered, setting down her glass.

Jin-sook studied Soo-min. In the past five years, she'd watched as Soo-min shed the openness she once possessed and replaced it with reserve. She used to think of Soo-min as a ray of light, her guileless and friendly manner piercing through even Jin-sook's well-constructed defenses. But the Soo-min before her was distinctly muted and her emotions were harder to read. Jin-sook privately worried about the girl. Several months ago, Soo-min had disappeared for a length of time, not responding to any of Jin-sook's calls or messages. When she had re-emerged, Jin-sook was shocked to see how unwell she looked – all skin and bones and dark circles under the eyes. Soo-min had dismissed her appearance as the result of being overworked and Jin-sook hadn't pursued the matter further despite her doubts. Every now and then these days, Jin-sook would catch Soo-min with a haunted expression in her eyes.

Soo-min had always been beautiful, but it had been an airy, innocent beauty. In these recent months she'd regained a healthy appearance but the last touches of girlish softness had melted from her features. The change was too sudden and unexpected, exacerbating Jin-sook's concerns. Something was wrong.

"Lilies..." Jin-sook turned her attention back to Soo-min's questions, "They're an urban myth. In my former profession, 'Lilies" were as high as you could go. They're supposed to be "elite" escorts for the wealthy and powerful. When I was running my business, I heard about them here and there, but it was all hearsay."

"Did the rumors mention if they were involved with drugs by any chance?"

"Drugs? I've never heard of that. There were rumors that they might be linked to a gang and stuff about them being into darker stuff, but nothing about drugs."

"How would someone become a "Lily?"

"Soo-min, why are you so interested? If one wanted to become a Lily, I would suspect one would need to be invited into the position. Usually those girls are working as escorts already and then get promoted." Jin-sook was looking at Soo-min now with some suspicion and wariness.

Soo-min answered casually, "I'm working on a case where a girl died of a drug overdose. She had a tattoo of a lily on her inner thigh. There's not much information about the tattoo and I wasn't sure if it meant anything so I figured I would just ask you." She was very glad she hadn't informed Jin-sook about her indefinite leave from the police.

Jin-sook gave Soo-min another suspicious look but the answer seemed to satisfy her.

"Just be careful Soo-min."

Soo-min nodded as she drained the contents of her glass.

Finally I have some pieces to work with.

Soo was starting to become concerned that he'd lost his touch with the ladies. After the encounter with Soo-min, Paksa expressed concern about possibly running into her again and had sent Masa to investigate the club instead. Although Masa's delicate, pleasing looks and his scar always drew cooing attention from the ladies, he was too intense and serious to be able to tease information out of them. Soo had vetoed Min-jae – people would remember the sprawling demon tattoos curling along every inch of his skin. When Masa again reported his lack of findings two weeks later for the umpteenth time, Soo had taken it as his signal to try his luck at the club one more time.

Apparently my skills are rusty, he thought with a twinge of embarrassment. He'd been sitting in one of the rooms sharing a drink with a young hostess who was all too happy to serve him. Soo had resisted the urge to roll eyes upward at her incessant chatter. Had there really been a time when he'd fancied girls so... young? But when he casually asked about "The Madame," she'd completely ignored his question and kept talking about how "cute" he was. Soo decided after ten minutes that one, he never needed to look in a mirror again after having his every feature described down to the minute detail, and two, the girl was either brainless or the best actress ever. Afterwards, another girl had rotated in and it had been a case of rinse and repeat.

I need to change tactics, he decided as he headed down the stairs. And take a shower. He felt decidedly violated after the looks and forward whispers the last girl had given him. As he headed down the stairs, he cast a glance at the bar, puzzling if he should try it next. He was about to head over before he stopped, pivoted, and walked quickly in the opposite direction. He'd just seen that girl, the one that he had saved the first night he'd gone exploring around the club. Soo-min was her name, he recalled. She had her head tilted down, making some kind of drink, while a man stood beside her giving her instructions in a teasing manner. She'd turned eyes sparkling with mirth at him and had hopefully missed Soo's vanishing act.

Goddamnit, why of all places does she have to work at this one? That means I can't investigate this area any more, too risky. It'll have to be Masa. Maybe if I pull him aside and teach him a little bit about flirting… However rusty his own skills were, he could beat Masa any day when it came to wooing females.

Soo walked some distance away from the club before stopping. He pulled out his phone and prepared to call Paksa with his findings (or lack of) and the news about that girl now apparently working at the club as a bartender.

There was the distinct click that echoed in the night and Soo froze with the phone still attached to his ear.

"We need to talk." Soo-min said coldly.

Author's Note: My cliffhangers really are quite terrible. Many thanks as always to lilahozi and Aziraphale for the endless hours of work! Akiko, Jess - I wouldn't be here without your amazing support as well! Next chapter centers around the meeting that everyone has been waiting for...


	7. Chapter Six - Confrontation

Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel

Chapter Six - Confrontation

Soo stood frozen in position, acutely aware of the gun pointed at his back. He started to turn before the click of the gun being loaded made him stop. He was beginning to feel distinctly disadvantaged.

"I didn't say turn around. I said we needed to talk." Soo-min said as she kept her gun trained on Soo. When she had seen his shoulders tense, she instinctively knew that that he was preparing to make a move at her. Physically, she was no match for his larger physique, so she had every intention of using her gun to even the playing field. By sheer luck earlier, she'd looked up from mixing cocktails just in time to recognize Soo heading towards the exit. From the way he was weaving quickly through the crowd, Soo-min intuitively guessed that he had spotted her and was retreating. Without a word to Shin, she had practically sprinted from her position in pursuit. She didn't intend to really shoot Soo; she just wanted to intimidate him sufficiently to get the upper hand, though if he tried anything, she didn't have any reservations about shooting him in the leg or the arm. She looked at the phone in Soo's hand that was still raised to his ear. The person on the other line had to be someone higher on the food chain, perhaps his boss. Soo was probably under orders to come to the club again, and if she was lucky, that person on the other line might lead to her to her kidnappers and the drugs.

"Drop the phone." She commanded. Soo was half-facing her, and at her order he slowly rotated to face her. The clenching of his jaw and the tightening of the tendons in his neck betrayed his anger at the situation.

"Don't make me repeat myself again. I will shoot you in the leg before you can take me down. No matter how fast you are, you aren't faster than a bullet." Soo-min emphasized her words by pointing the gun at Soo's leg. "I'm not going to let you disappear again like you and your associate did the other night. I can't believe I let you trick me." Soo started to open his mouth in indignation before closing it at the look on Soo-min's face. "I'm an excellent shot. I won't miss."

Staring angrily at Soo-min, Soo slowly lowered his arm and dropped the phone. It hit the ground with a soft clack.

"Face the wall. Now."

He moved towards the wall and pressed against it, hands splayed in anger against the stone surface.

"You're making a big mistake -"

"Shut up." Soo-min gritted as she picked up the phone, gun still trained on Soo's back. Putting the phone to her ear, she was about to speak when the person on the other line spoke first.

"Soo?" A terribly familiar voice reached her ears.

Soo-min's mind went blank, as if a small bomb had exploded in her brain and disintegrated everything in its wake. The shock of it ripped through her body and momentarily incapacitated her. The ground beneath seemed to disappear and she was spinning, spinning wildly in a void, in a world that was no longer familiar to her.

"Shi…Hyun?" The name slipped out of her lips unwittingly.

In the long silence that followed, the voice echoed and reverberated within Soo-min's mind. For a horrible moment, she wasn't sure if she had mistakenly heard the voice or if the drugs had altered her brain so much that she was beginning to hallucinate in real life. Her emotions were in a tail-spin, wreaking havoc as they whipped inside her and her mental capabilities seemed to have disappeared. She was so gripped by shock that she had taken her eyes off Soo, completely forgotten about him actually. The gun in her hand wavered as tremors rolled down her arm.

Seizing his opportunity in Soo-min's distraction, Soo whipped around from the wall and rushed towards her. Startled back to reality, Soo-min managed to get off a shot that whizzed by his arm before the entirety of his infuriated mass hit her. He grabbed hold of her hand, brutally twisting it so that she was forced to drop the gun lest he broke her wrist. Soo-min countered by slamming the phone into his face. Soo's jaw knocked back from the blow, but he retained his grip on her wrist and used it to wrench her arm back. Soo-min drove an elbow into his stomach, determined to get out of his grasp. Her control of the situation had gone to zero within a few minutes.

Soo saw red. His jaw throbbed from the blow the girl had just given him. Despite her petite appearance, she packed quite a punch. He was going to have a nasty bruise there tomorrow. But what he was more furious about was that she'd shot at him. If he had been moving any slower, then the bullet would have hit him. Jin-sook's little sister or not, she was done. He shoved Soo-min against the wall, hard, and picked up the phone. Paksa was still on the line. Soo didn't know how much of the exchange he had heard.

"Paksa," He fought to catch his breath, "I don't know what's going on, but that girl, Jin-sook's little sister, just tried to shoot me. I don't care how close she and Jin-sook were. If she attacks me again, I'm going to knock her out and leave her here."

"You do that," Soo-min spat as she struggled against Soo's arm, "and the first thing that I'll do is file a report stating that Kim Hyun-soo is not dead, and is affiliated with a suspect wanted in connection to the kidnapping of a police officer. Your profile also lists you as a suspect with a number of past cases. I'm sure that the police will have many, many questions for you. Good luck trying to remain a 'dead' man."

"Forget what I just said. I'm just going to shoot her."

"Soo!" Paksa's voice rang through the phone so loudly that both Soo-min and Soo heard it, momentarily stopping their struggle.

"Back down." Paksa ordered, the hardness in his voice overriding Soo's automatic protest. Soo and Soo-min both stared at the phone, waiting.

"Pass the phone to the girl."

Paksa stared unseeingly out the window, past the glitter of city lights reflecting off the glass. The phone lay limply in his hand, a contrast to how tightly he'd been gripping it moments earlier. After sizing up how the situation between Soo and Soo-min was rapidly heading towards bloodshed, he made the only decision that wouldn't result in either party unconscious, exposed, or in a body bag.

Although every fiber of his being fiercely objected, he'd arranged for them all to meet after he made both Soo and Soo-min agree to a temporary ceasefire. When Soo passed the phone to Soo-min, her voice was shaky, but did not betray any of the emotions he heard when she first uttered his name. Paksa kept his own words brief as he requested a face-to-face meeting. He ordered a car to pick up Soo-min – he didn't completely trust either one of them to keep the truce. After all, he had heard the anger crackling in Soo's voice.

After five years, he was going to come face-to-face with a girl who had essentially disappeared into his past. He had turned his back on her and that choice had been final. He was not one to constantly revisit his decisions. Glancing down, he realized he was wearing an outfit almost identical to the one he wore the last time he'd seen her.

He watched her smile in quite peacefulness as she walked towards the orphanage wearing her hard-earned police uniform. He was struck by deja-vu as he remembered Kyung-mi walking towards the orphanage doors years ago in the very same uniform. He watched silently for a long time before uttering a single 'congratulations' and turning away.

Now he was about to see Soo-min with the knowledge that despite his efforts, the shadows he lived in had once again snaked out and sunk their fangs into her. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to savor the stillness. Then his eyes snapped back open and he forcefully straightened his jacket. When he looked at himself in the glass, his face had rearranged itself into its customary emotionless mask. There was no trace of Jung Shi-hyun in the reflection that looked back at him, only the harsh gaze of Paksa Adeul.

Soo-min watched through the car window as the route grew more and more familiar. Her chest tightened when she realized their intended destination. The car pulled into the parking garage that contained Paksa Adeul's former "home". Soo-min had not stepped foot within its walls since she discovered the truth behind his "death." Up until that moment, she'd visited the place so often that the oil from her fingertips had left faint smudges on the walls from the countless times she ran fingers along them.

Her fingers were now curled into her palms so tightly that they were about to break skin. When she stepped into that place, she would be facing memories, ghosts, and the living with her armor in tatters. She forced herself to repeat the mantra: If you don't feel, then you can't be hurt.

The car pulled up into the parking spot. Soo had already arrived, and he was leaning against his car with his arms folded across his chest. Soo-min could feel his anger and dislike of her. He only kept himself in check because of Paksa's orders. Let's see what your next move is.

"Leave the gun." Soo pushed himself from the car and walked towards her. Soo-min gave him an incredulous look. "Not with me," he said, rolling his eyes. "You're certifiably crazy if you think I'm going to let you carry a gun in my presence, truce or not." He jerked his head towards her driver, "He'll take care of it. You're not getting another step closer until you hand over the gun." Soo-min opened her mouth, then decided against whatever she was going to say, and passed her gun to her driver. He deposited it into the dashboard. Soo-min took a step forwards but Soo's raised hand stalled her.

"The knife too." Soo motioned towards Soo-min, "You didn't think I noticed it?" Soo-min gritted her teeth before bending down and pulling out a small blade that had been strapped to her ankle.

"How do I know you're not carrying?" She sharply directed her words at Soo as she reluctantly handed the knife to the driver.

"You don't." Soo said, smirking condescendingly, "But," he raised his voice to stop her protest, "I'm not the one who shot without warning, and I am the one who saved you from being most certainly being raped and killed by that lowlife the other night."

"That means nothing here. How do I know that you're not covering for him, still?" Soo-min spat out, feeling her checked anger spilling forth as she leveled suspicious eyes at him.

Soo took a step closer, outrage and fury splashed across his face. "I'm only going to say this once," Soo-min took an involuntary step back at the viciousness laced in his voice. "There are lines I will not cross. Even after you shot at me, if I was to see you being assaulted again, I'd knock the man out."

"How does that change anything? You lied and took off with a man who attempted to assault me," Soo-min shot back. "What did you think I was going to assume?"

"Christ woman, you think I -" Soo snapped his jaw shut. "We're wasting time," He said, turning his back on her and walking towards the entrance stairs. "But now, you don't just owe me a thank you," his next words bounced against the walls, "you owe me one."

With that parting shot, he disappeared into the darkness.

Two sets of approaching footsteps in tandem alerted Paksa Adeul to their owners' arrival. He arrived at the location a while earlier, in order to re-acquaint himself with the former "home" he hadn't laid eyes on in five years. The unpleasant memories associated with the dank space pressed down heavily against him.

He saw Soo first when his First Lieutenant entered and passed him. He sported a patch of redness along his lower cheek and jawline. So that explains some of the sounds that I heard. Soo simply glared at him and stayed silent. He's pissed. I'll deal with him later. There were more pressing matters on hand. Paksa turned his ears towards the next arrival. His ears picked up on the purposefulness in the footsteps, and also the hesitancy indicated by the slight pause between each step.

In a way, Soo-min was grateful that it was Shi-hyun's back that she was first presented with. For all her determination to keep a check on her emotions, she wasn't sure she would've been able to keep that promise if she had to meet his eyes first. As she watched, Paksa Adeul turned around, and finally, after all the years Soo-min faced the ghost of her past. He looked older, harder, colder. He looked…untouchable. There were faint lines around his eyes that had not been there before, and all traces of boyishness had disappeared from his face. Soo-min's eyes traced the contours of his face, lingering over the high cheekbones, the line of his jaw, and the curve of his lips. Her eyes drew up to his and despite herself, she mentally flinched at the darkness she saw there. There was no trace of laughter or softness in those black depths. Whatever tendrils of happiness she felt at finally seeing him, alive, quickly died away.

Paksa watched impassively as Soo-min's eyes traveled over his features. He took note of the myriad of emotions that flickered through her eyes. He noticed that the fragility that once lingered about her was now tempered with steeliness. When he'd last seen her, she still carried the blush of youth that sparkled in her eyes. Now, all that childlike exuberance was gone, stifled. She was dressed in colors he'd never seen her wear before: a blouse the color of rubies so dark it looked black, paired with black pants. Her previous trademark high heels were absent; she had traded those for boots. She seemed much smaller now, and muted, like a shadow of her old, lively self. Looking into her eyes, he could see the shadows of the demons that haunted her. And, he realized, startled, she was not surprised to see him. She had known that he was alive. Paksa thought back to the past conversations he had with Jin-sook over the years. Jin-sook never once brought up Soo-min to him, but he was sure that Jin-sook would have said something if she knew his secret was compromised. Which means Jin-sook isn't aware that Soo-min knows.

He broke the silence.

"You're not surprised to see me."

Soo-min's eyes flashed, "No." She stated flatly.

"How?" Paksa asked. Despite himself, he was curious. It was unsettling that she knew the truth for so long.

"It doesn't matter." Soo-min's tone silenced any further pursuit of the matter, "Kim Hyun-soo carried off a person that I need to speak to. I want to know where he is."

"You're talking about your potential rapist and murderer?" Soo looked at Soo-min in disbelief. Although Paksa never ever talked about any female in his life, Soo had to drag meager details about Jin-sook out of him, Soo hadn't forgotten the violence Paksa had unleashed on that guard. "What do you want with him? If it's punishment that you're seeking then-" He stopped when Paksa threw a swift look at him.

"It's none of your concern." Soo-min responded, watching the silent interaction between Paksa and Soo, "I need to ask him questions. Where is he?"

"That's none of your concern." Soo shot back.

"You-" she paused, looking back and forth from Paksa to Soo. "You know something about that man, don't you? Which means…"

"There's nothing for you to pursue," Paksa finally said. "He's been taken care of."

"What do you mean 'He's been taken care of?'"

Silence.

"Fine." She thought, gnashing her teeth in frustration. Three could play this game. "If I don't start getting answers soon, I'm going straight to the police and announcing that the famous Paksa Adeul, wanted in connection to Chairman Jo's murder, is alive and well, and that his associate Kim Hyun-soo is also alive and well. You two can deal with the charges against you." She folded her arms and stared back in challenge at the two men, feeling a small amount of satisfaction at Soo's startled glance. Paksa's own expression remained unreadable.

Paksa realized when he was being backed into a corner. He lied smoothly, "A very close friend died of a drug overdose recently. His death was suspicious, and we have reasons to believe that the club is somehow linked to his death. Soo went to look into it." Paksa felt his jaw involuntarily tighten, "We took him in for questioning, but he didn't know anything."

"Have you been able to find anything out from the club?" Soo-min asked. On the surface, Paksa's explanation sounded reasonable enough, but intuitively she knew that he was outright lying to her. She had also picked up on a slight change in his voice and facial expression when he mentioned her attacker.

"We've met with some...difficulties, so we haven't found anything else about the club yet. Now you know everything there is to know. There's nothing else for you." The finality in Paksa's voice signaled an end to the conversation.

His cool dismissal stung her. He expects me to just obey him like a dog and walk away. Bitterness clogged her throat. How easy it is for him to just turn his back and be done with it…with me. Soo-min knew that there was much more going under that fake cover story, and she also knew that she'd have easier time extracting teeth from the two men than getting the true story out of them. She could try threatening them with exposure, but she knew that sooner or later, her bluff would be called out. The only reason why Paksa was even meeting with her was because he wanted to end her fight with Soo. As she continued looking at Paksa, she suddenly felt a terrible sense of familiarity wash over her. The Shi-hyun in her nightmares had looked at her with the exact same cold, merciless gaze as the real Shi-hyun in front of her now. Her vision wavered and for a split second, she was back in her hallucinations. She shuddered. She'd known it would be extraordinarily hard to see him, but nothing could've possibly prepared herself for the reality of him. She ruthlessly clamped down on her feelings, biting her lip to halt the broken sound she could feel pushing against her throat. She needed to regain control of herself. Better yet, she needed to break Shi-hyun's control.

In a piercing moment of brilliance, Soo-min realized how to tip the game in her favor. She'd completely upend the chessboard and watch as the other players struggled to collect the pieces.

"I have a proposal for you." She said. She was pleased at how calm her voice sounded. Paksa had started walking past her, towards the exit, and at her words he halted. Soo-min lifted her eyes and looked squarely at him. "You need access to Vanity, right? I can give you that."

For the first time since she'd laid eyes on Shi-hyun that night, emotion finally cracked through his mask and surprise unmistakably entered his eyes.

Author's Note: Hands down the hardest chapter to complete. FYI, this is Version 22. Many, many thanks for lilahozi for the numerous hours of editing and discussion regarding characters (and making sure I didn't accidentally give a character a personality lobotomy). Thanks always as well to Aziraphale, Jess, Akiko.


	8. Chapter Seven - Gambit

Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel

Chapter Seven – Gambit

Paksa Adeul turned and looked at Soo-min. She stood directly facing him, her usually expressive eyes hooded. The only sign of her emotions were the two bright spots of color riding on her cheekbones in her otherwise pale face. The new speed at which she could now harness her emotions unsettled him. Where had that expressive girl gone? Her unexpected proposal had thrown him off balance, and it cost him precious seconds to regain himself; seconds she was more than willing to take advantage of as she moved quickly to press her case.

Soo-min watched Paksa's lips tighten before they parted and then closed again, whatever words he meant to speak remaining unvoiced. She repeated her proposal, carefully watching him for signs of reaction.

"You need information on 'Vanity'. I can give you information. I'm far less obvious than trying to flirt with escorts to get information, which doesn't seem to be working for you." At this, she directed a pointed look at Soo. He glowered at her. "Besides," she added, "the girls rotate their shifts, so you'll have a hard time establishing a connection with someone who could help you. I, on the other hand, am on the permanent staff. Since my job description doesn't require me to smile and "entertain" clients if the occasion demands, I'm less noticeable,"

Paksa's lips curled in distaste at her remark. Soo let out a sudden, barking laugh. He moved from his position next to Paksa and leaned against a table, hands balancing against its edge, "Let me get this straight, you want to work with us? You do remember not one hour ago you tried to shoot me? And now you want to be friends and work together? Really?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"Soo." Paksa warned, volumes in the one word.

"I have my reasons." Soo-min briefly answered.

"Whatever your reasons might be, I'm not interested in your offer." Paksa's tone was harsh and final, brokering no argument.

Soo-min had been expecting nothing less. After all, she knew firsthand how much Paksa "welcomed" outside assistance. But this time she was prepared.

"You might want to think a little more before you reject my offer. She said, stalking forward and closing the distance between them, "First off, if you reject my assistance then you're a fool." She ignored Soo's sudden intake of breath and Paksa's narrowed eyes. "However, I'll allow you to reconsider. You have three days to think about it. I won't raise any alarms at the club if I see you. But, if after three days I don't hear from you, then I'm going to the police and informing them that their records are incorrect, and two wanted criminals are, in fact, alive. Even if you managed to be pardoned taking your history into account," Here, she looked straight at Paksa, "I doubt the same will apply to your man."

Soo gritted out, "You're playing dirty. I should have—"

"I'm not playing," Soo-min injected, cutting off his next words, "Don't assume that I want to be working with you. But I need information, and what I am able to gather myself isn't enough. That's all this is: an exchange of information. Five years taught me to expect nothing more." For one small second, she thought she saw regret running through Paksa's face, but then he blinked and it was gone.

She leaned over, lifted one hand and traced out her phone number in the collected dust on a small table. She straightened back up and regarded the two men, taking time to memorize what was perhaps the last sight of Shi-hyun she'd get. It was foolishness on her part, but she knew she would later retrace each feature in the lonely solitude of her thoughts.

"I'll be expecting a call in three days."

With that parting shot, she turned and left. The ghosts of the bleak room followed her like unwelcome companions. With each step she took, the sound of her boots felt like the nails being driven into her heart.

—-

Soo-min managed to make it all the way back home in one piece. She clamped her mouth shut to prevent the broken noises that were threatening to erupt from her throat and fumbled with her keys, desperately jamming it into the lock and scrambling to turn it. She barely took one step into her apartment before she sunk onto the ground. She dimly registered a sharp pain in her knees when they hit the wooden floor as all her pent-up emotions washed over her. The unanticipated, harsh reality of Shi-hyun after all the years was too much for her to handle.

Minutes? Hours? later she leaned her head back against the wall, feeling the final tears leak from her eyes and run down her cheeks. I should call Shin. He'll be worried. I left so abruptly.She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw ten missed calls. Scrolling through her call log, she saw that each one was from Shin. She dialed his number. After one ring, he picked up, his voice tight with worry.

"Mina! Are you Ok? Did you not see my calls? What happened?"

"I'm fine, Shin." Her voice sounded distant and muffled to her, as though she was speaking from far away. She cleared her throat.

"Your voice doesn't sound fine. I can barely understand you!"

Soo-min closed her eyes at Shin's concerned voice.

"I'm okay, honestly. Something came up so I had to take off like that, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry, but I'm feeling tired. Do you mind if we speak tomorrow?"

She ended the call to Shin's worried, but understanding reassurances. He would have questions tomorrow, but she didn't have the energy to think up any plausible excuses right now. With leaden feet, she stumbled into her bedroom, collapsing on the bed still fully clothed. Her face felt raw, like it had been rubbed in sand, but she couldn't muster the energy to do anything except turn her head into the pillow.

Please don't let me dream tonight, she thought before she succumbed to oblivion.

—

Day One

Soo stood beyond the door frame watching Paksa, who was facing the window and staring beyond it stonily. He was tightly checking himself; if he allowed his control to relax, then he would snap and destroy everything and everyone in sight until the rage within him quelled. His fingers clenched against the thick folder he clutched in one hand.

Soo had deposited that folder into Paksa's hands after receiving it from his police contact. Soo had briefly flipped through the contents himself and felt his stomach turn as he read through the reports. Yoon Soo-min's file was relatively standard up until a year ago, then she had been abducted for three days, and from then on her file had become stuffed with red tape and psych evaluations. Soo had felt his skin crawl at her medical reports. He was no idiot. He'd seen the way Paksa handled Soo-min's kidnapper and felt the tension between the two at the meeting to other night, and guessed that those two shared some kind of complicated, unresolved history. Soo also knew that Paksa would never let anything or anyone, even himself, compromise his mission.

"She's on indefinite leave from the force." Paksa's voice cut through Soo's thoughts.

"My contact told me that she was actually seconds from quitting, but an old supervisor talked her out of it. But, for all intents and purposes she's pretty much done. There's so much red tape in her file that she'll have to fight through for the rest of her career."

"Whatever her superiors said, her claims aren't unfounded. She's putting together the pieces that we aren't able to." Paksa turned and strode away from the window, "I'm going to see Woo-ha." Paksa said as he headed towards the exit, shaking his head at Soo's offer to join. He would fill him in on the details later. His First Lieutenant was too quick on picking up emotional cues and Paksa didn't want any witnesses around after his conversation with the Doctor.

—

"Hallucinations?" Woo-ha looked up from the test results he was currently poring over at Paksa Adeul. He'd been surprised when he received the call from Paksa saying he wanted to meet in person, immediately, "Caused by the tainted drugs?"

In response, Paksa handed the contents of Soo-min's findings as well as her medical files to Woo-ha. He fought the urge to pace up and down the laboratory as Woo-ha read through the pages, pausing every now and then to jot down notes. An hour passed before Woo-ha lifted his head from the material, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Woo-ha cleared his throat and Paksa's attention zoned in on him.

"Your hypothesis would make this all make sense. The drugs could very well be causing extreme hallucinations that ends up killing people. This case, and this case," he pointed at two of the witness reports, "show that that the victims took their own lives. In the context of what you're telling me, the hallucinations were so vivid that the victims mistook them for reality and killed themselves in an attempt to escape. The police are incorrectly attributing overdose as the cause, but it might be the neurological effects of the drugs that's causing the deaths."

"Furthermore," Woo-ha added, resisting the urge look away from Paksa's piercing stare as he absorbed the information, "this file includes cases that we weren't aware of. Whoever this 'Yoon Soo-min' is, she's located information that we were missing and there is now evidence that the drugs aren't simply tainted, they might've been chemically altered to attack the temporal and occipital lobes, so that the victim's memory turns against him. If this is true, and I'll run some tests to confirm it, then this chemical combination was created for only one purpose, to destroy the mind of whoever takes the drug. All it would take is for one person to take the drug in a crowded area and they could unknowingly turn the venue into a bloodbath."

"And when people begin to get suspicious, they will trace the drugs back and the blame would fall on us," Paksa said, assessing the dangerous reality of the situation. Woo-ha recognized the tone in his voice from his phone call weeks ago. That unmistakable undercurrent of worry caused an awful sinking feeling in Woo-ha's stomach.

—

Day Two

Paksa Adeul stood outside the building, debating whether or not he should go in or call off his request for a meeting. He'd maintained a friendly, if not slightly distant relationship with Jin-sook in the past years. He didn't want to further involve his "family" in his affairs, especially after past events. It had been at his encouragement that Jin-sook had taken up another line of work that was exponentially less dangerous. He knew that if she caught an inkling of his current dealings, then she would have stepped, no, leapt back into the darkness with him. To be honest, he missed her words of counsel, but he'd made his decision five years ago to sever ties between family and business. Soo was the sole exception. He had refused to back down from Shi-hyun's request to leave and the two had almost come to bloody blows. But, Jin-sook deserved a chance to live in the daylight. She'd spent too long steeped in the affairs of the night. If she knew his true intentions, she would have fought tooth and nail to walk beside him to the bitter end.

He'd just made up his mind to call off the meeting; he would speak to Jin-sook and ask forgiveness for canceling, when the arrival of his First Lieutenant halted his decision. Paksa raised an inner eyebrow as he took in Soo's appearance. It seemed that he'd taken a little bit more care than usual with his attire. Some things haven't changed. Although he'd never brought it up to Soo, he'd been aware of Soo's growing fascination with his noona five years ago, though their interactions had been cut short with Soo's untimely "demise". But Soo had never mentioned Jin-sook's name during the time they'd been abroad. They both shared the characteristic of being intensely private regarding past relations. However, Soo wasn't known as "Smiles" in this world for nothing. Over the years, Paksa had witnessed more than one lady fall victim to Soo's smooth words and masculine charms, although each relationship had been casual and fleeting.

It seemed now "Smiles" was having a hard time summoning one to his face. Paksa watched the pulse in Soo's throat jump with nervousness. Clasping a hand on Soo's shoulder, he motioned towards the door. Truthfully speaking, he wasn't sure how he felt about the possible lingering feelings his First Lieutenant might carry for Jin-sook, the only woman he considered family; but if anything, Soo would keep Jin-sook from guessing exactly what business it was that brought him back to Seoul.

—

Well, that had gone disastrously wrong, Soo thought dejectedly, glancing over at the figures of Paksa and Jin-Sook in conversation. He really must be losing his touch: first the debacle at "Vanity", and now his inability to carry on a decent conversation with Jin-sook. He'd been stuck momentarily with his previous crush when he'd seen her, she seemed to have grown younger with age. Perhaps living outside of the darkness that she had been in for so many years had allowed her to reclaim a bit of her stolen youth.

Soo knew he'd gained a certain gravity and serious attitude during his years working with Paksa Adeul that set him in a different light from his former notorious playboy attitude. Relationships were a luxury he didn't indulge in, he'd shared various women's beds for personal gratification only. Still, he hadn't expected to be teasingly scolded for not informing Jin-sook that he was alive and that Paksa had actually informed her a while ago.

"I recall one of our last conversations," Jin-sook said, raising an eyebrow and speaking to him in a suggestive tone that made it crystal clear which conversation she was referring to. "I would have thought you would have had the decency to at least reach out." While Soo had been figuring out how to respond to the innuendo, she dismissed him and turned her entire attention to Paksa.

Now Soo sat there, nursing his third drink of the night, half-listening to Paksa smoothly sidestep Jin-sook's questions regarding his reasons for being back in Seoul. He found himself stealing glances at her over the rim of his glass. He wasn't attracted to solely her beauty; It was her confidence and inner strength that he found himself fascinated with, again.

It seems that absence does make the heart grow fonder, he miserably thought as he drained his glass. I am screwed.

—

Day Three

Paksa Adeul watched the sun beginning to sink behind a building, its radiance casting a halo around the structure.

"What are you going to do?" Soo asked. Paksa didn't acknowledge the question. He was buried in his own thoughts, considering all the possibilities and the infinite resulting consequences. He wanted Soo-min as far away from his world as possible, but against all odds, she'd ended up buried neck high and was sinking.

"Time is running out." Soo added. Paksa had relayed Woo-ha's findings to him and he felt like they were treading on very, very shaky ground. Paksa's hand reached for his phone.

"You already know what you're going to do." Soo said, realization dawning on him.

"I knew it from the moment she walked away."

—

Soo-min stood once again in Paksa's former residence, feeling a bit more in control than she was the last time she'd been here. The past didn't seem to press down as hard, although she could still feel memories swirling around her in the dark and barren room.

She turned her attention back to Paksa. She'd been surprised when he'd called her. A part of her had thought that he would have chosen to ignore her and her threats.

"This is the deal," Paksa spoke, drawing her out of her thoughts, "You will use your position at the club to eavesdrop and gather and report any information about a gang associated with Vanity or drugs." He reached into his pocket and produced a familiar-looking white card. "You will also report anything you hear about 'The Madame' or 'Mi-young'."

Soo-min reached forward to take the card from his offered hand, brushing fingers against his as she grasped it. The slide of skin against skin unbalanced her. Willing her pulse to stop accelerating, she examined the card.

"The Madame? Mi-young? Who are they?" She asked.

"It's your job to find out. That's what Soo was trying to discover before you interrupted." Soo, standing a bit back, rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Fine." Soo-min replied.

"If you aren't able to produce any results within two weeks, then we're done. I don't deal with incompetence."

His words hit a nerve. Soo-min's wariness left her and she broke her own rule of not engaging. She strode up to him, stepping close enough that she had to lean back to stare into his eyes,

"Don't try to intimidate me. Harsh language isn't going to deter me. And, you aren't the worst thing I've survived." Bitterness laced her words. She saw his eyes widen fractionally before returning to their shuttered expression.

"I'll be in touch."

The words lingered in the air as she walked out of the room. She didn't dare turn around to look at Paksa for fear of what she might see. For the first time, she wondered if this "brilliant" move of hers wasn't actually terrible mistake. She had bartered the only pawn she had, herself, in this game, and with just one wrong move, there would be a price to pay.

—

Author's Note: Chapter Eight will see Soo-min dive deeper into Vanity as she starts to delve into the layers and finally there will be some insight into what's driving Shi-hyun. A key figure will have a memorable appearance in the next Chapter as well. And you'll finally get an idea of what I've been talking about with my "steam" comments… Thanks as always to lilahozi for the endless hours of editing and discussion! Thanks as well to Jess and Akiko!


	9. Chapter Eight - Induction

**Endless Night || Heartless City Sequel**

**Chapter Eight - Induction **

_One Week Later..._

Soo-min walked silently along the length of the ornate corridors in a section of the Vanity that was off-limits to her. Tonight was finally her night off, so she'd taken advantage of the free time to enter the club through the staff entrance before changing into attire more appropriate for a wealthy party-goer. _Thank goodness the floors are carpeted, _she thought, glancing at heavy wooden doors. It seemed that there was more money poured into this section than any previous one she'd been to. Maybe this was a sign that she was finally making some headway.

The past week had been absent of any leads. She had tried to pick up any clues from the drunken mumbling of guests or gossiping amongst the staff, but the staff policy was one of utmost discretion – even Shin had become unusually tight-lipped when Soo-min casually prodded him for information about "Vanity". She didn't want to raise suspicions so she dropped her line of questions. Besides, she'd caught Shin directing unreadable looks her way. It seemed he only accepted her explanation of disappearing a week before on the surface level. She'd been forced to drop her "investigation" for the time being; if Shin caught her snooping, combined with the timing of her inquiries, she didn't think she would be able to find a satisfactory excuse. Beneath his playful manner he was undeniably sharp.

She found herself growing more impatient with her self-imposed restriction with each day that passed. _And I need to report in to Paksa_, she refused to think of him as Shi-hyun_. _They had only had one brief meeting during the week, where he'd handed her a medical file on one of the victims with scribbling on the margins. Soo-min had warred with triumphant and dread as she read through the notes. They proved her theory that the deaths were due to the quality and not quantity of the drugs.

Now, he had given her two vital pieces of information: first, the names on the card that she had yet to attach faces to, and two, evidence that contaminated drugs was the reason behind all the "overdose" deaths. Her employee access had proven to be so far useless. She knew the deadline. If she didn't come up with some evidence within the next week, then Paksa would end their tenuous "partnership" and disappear. She couldn't let him do that, not when it was clear there was information he was still holding back. Of course, she was being a hypocrite because she was holding back her own growing suspicions about "Lilies".

Soo-min rounded the corridor, which opened into a lobby. Intricate lattice work divided the room and she could see mahogany stained tables and plush chairs surrounded by decorative sculptures. Glancing at a corner she saw the long marble counter of a bar lit by burnished lamps. _This area must be for meetings,_ she thought, _maybe I could try to get a listening device in here. _Although how she was going to do so, she had no idea.

The sound of distant voices pulled Soo-min out of her thoughts. Wincing at the sound of her heels hitting the now marbled floors, she moved towards a shadowed section and pressed herself against a wall.

"What orders did she give?" Two men rounded the corner, both dressed in black suits. Despite their appearance she didn't think that they were guests.

"That Ji-hee be ready. The next client is an important one and The Madame doesn't want there to be any issues." The men continued their discussion as they moved past Soo-min's hiding place and continued down the hall.

_The Madame..._Soo-min strained to hear the fading voices.

She followed after the owners, mindful of keeping her distance. She was too cautious though, because she lost track of them among the twisting corridors. She was turning around to backtrack before another set of voices traveling in her direction froze her in her steps. She couldn't risk being caught, not this far within the club. Spying a door corridor few feet away, she made a dash for it and slipped inside.

"Who the hell are you?"

Soo-min turned, hand still on the latch, to see the same girl she'd run into the other night, the one who had been trying to take care of an injury in the ladies' room. A_ Lily._ She was standing in the middle of lavish suite, hands in the middle of adjusting her clothing, while she took in Soo-min's unexpected appearance. Soo-min, for her own part, was trying to come up with an excuse that wouldn't bring security running in. The girl's eyes narrowed when her question went unanswered.

"I heard nothing about a second girl requested for entertainment, so what-"

The girl's question was interrupted as the door opened, almost hitting Soo-min in the face. She moved quickly towards the center of the room, stopped only by the Lily's catching of her arm.

"I don't know who the hell you are but if you screw this up we're both in trouble. For now follow my lead or I swear..." She hissed. Her grip relaxed as she gave a million-watt smile to the man who had entered the room, "Mr. Chairman! How are you doing today?"

Soo-min saw the Lily walk up to a round, elderly gentleman and brush a kiss against his cheek. He responded with a friendly pat on her cheek, before looking at Soo-min. He was old enough to be her grandfather, and the look he gave her sent shudders down her spine.

"Mr. Chairman, we have a special surprise for you tonight. We have some additional entertainment. This is..." The Lily paused.

"Mina. My name is Mina." Soo-min forced a smile to her face. For a split second the Chairman's face wavered and another face appeared in its place. Soo-min had thought she had forgotten what Busan's son looked like, that she'd buried the memories of that night, but she recognized the same depraved look in the Chairman's eyes. _She needed to be very, very careful._

"I'm here to sing for you, Mr. Chairman." Soo-min moved away from the two and reached for a microphone. The Lily, Ji-hee, sat next to the Chairman and poured him a drink. Soo-min was relieved that she was able to get out of a few notes without any false starts. As the last notes rose from her throat, she was startled by the Chairman's clapping.

"Another." He reached for his drink and settled a hand on Ji-hee's thigh.

Soo-min began again. "Another" turned into "another," into "_another",_ and Soo-min begin to be afraid her voice would give out. As she began yet another song, the Chairman held up a hand,

"That's enough." He stood, Ji-hee rising along with him. "I assume she's part of the continued entertainment?"

Ji-hee smiled and nodded.

"Good." Soo-min stood frozen as The Chairman's hand grasped her shoulder, the microphone gripped tightly in her hand. _Shit shit shit..._

"We're so sorry Mr. Chairman! Unfortunately, Mina has another commitment and can't stay any longer, but Ji-hee will be more than happy to see to your needs." A voice announced. Soo-min hadn't noticed that one of the assistants from earlier had entered the room.

"I'm not done with her!" The Chairman voiced in obvious displeasure.

"We are very, very sorry about this. We will make it up to you next time. Perhaps Bo-ra will be acceptable?"

Another woman, no_ girl, _walked into the room. The girl walked over to The Chairman and Ji-hee and sat next to him, presenting him with another glass of liquor. The Chairman grumbled before turning his attentions to the new catch. For once, Soo-min was grateful for the fickle attentions of men.

"Come _Mina_." The assistant looked at Soo-min, who felt herself wilt a bit at the expression in the man's face. The sounds of The Chairman's laughter mixed with the childlike giggle of two girls followed her out the door.

Apprehension grew within Soo-min as the man remained silent. They passed a few corridors before he stopped in front of a door, opened it, and walked through. Soo-min followed, trepidation running through her limbs. The only occupant in the room was a woman, who lifted a hand and motioned for Soo-min to sit. Soo-min chose to remain standing.

The room was dimly lit, but Soo-min could make out the woman's cold, cutting beauty. She was impeccably attired and coiffed, not a strand of hair was out of place in that sleek chignon. She made Soo-min think of a diamond – brilliant and hard. Under the woman's stare Soo-min felt a cold sweat breaking out on her skin. This was not someone who could be easily swayed by excuses. She needed to proceed very, very carefully.

"Explain yourself." Soo-min shivered at the voice. "No excuses."

"I didn't mean to cause any problems. I simply got lost. The club is so big and I went down one corridor and then I heard voices and didn't want to get in trouble so I hid in the room. It won't happen again."

"You're right, it won't happen again. You almost caused a major incident that would have embarrassed this club, not to mention the financial loss if the client had been displeased. You were warned from your first day on the job against stepping out of bounds." The woman looked at Soo-min, an elegant eyebrow arching in disgust. "Your position at Vanity is terminated immediately. Your manager will be informed." Her tone was final.

Soo-min felt panic rise within her, she clenched her hands to stop their trembling. If she was terminated, then not only would she lose any leads in the club, but her deal with Paksa Adeul would be jeopardized. She knew what his reaction would be if she let him know she was no longer employed by the club. He'd made it explicitly clear he didn't give a damn about excuses or give second chances.

"I'd like to apply for a position with your girls." She, herself, could not believe the words she had just spoken. She was desperate.

The woman stared at her icily.

There was no going back, no erasing those words. Soo-min pushed on, "You said 'almost caused', despite how everything went down, I did a good job tonight. The Chairman was taken by my singing."

"And you think a little bit of singing qualifies you for a job here?" You have no clue where you are, you ignorant little _fool._"

"I worked for Lee Jin-sook. I know exactly where I am. I know what is expected of someone in those circumstances."

"I'm not interested."

"Please give me a chance! Let me prove myself!"

"If you worked at Jin-sook's then you know the rules. Don't go poking around places you're not supposed to. Experience at Jin-sook's may have helped you slink away this time, but you're fired."

"But..."

"You're done here. You're done with this club, you're done working in this industry if I can help it. You have until tomorrow to pack up your things. If I see you at the club after tomorrow then, you won't like the consequences. Understood?"

Soo-min felt her throat clog and heart sink to her knees. She dug her nails into her palms, honing in on the physical pain.

"I understand."

"Good. Dismissed."

Soo-min left the room, struggling to fight the tears of frustration threatening to spill on to her cheeks. _Stupid stupid...What will I do now?_

There were very few individuals that understood the inner workings of Paksa Adeul's mind. Only Soo, who'd stayed by his side for five years, knew of his ultimate intentions. To everyone else in this violent world, he was a drug lord who reigned supreme over his territory, his subordinates, and possessed no qualms about crushing anyone who stood in his way.

Five years ago, recovering from bullet wounds courtesy of Commissioner Min, Shi-hyun had bitterly acknowledged the truth behind Chairman Jo's final words – "It is never finished". The Chairman's death was a hollow triumph. Other, higher powers behind him still lived on. Until these powers were toppled, then Busan's drug organization would remain intact and the status quo would remain. For this grim fact, for the desire to avenge Safari, and for the years of his life that he had already sacrificed to his mission, Paksa Adeul had decided to wage his own war against those higher powers, a group he had named 'The Syndicate.'

He was done being someone else's lap dog, of operating under rules of an organization that was just as corrupt as the underground world. The police made it more than clear that he was nothing more than tool to be thrown away when it became useless. They'd all but broken him, and as a consolation prize, gave him fresh new papers and an order to "disappear." So Shi-hyun had followed orders for the last time. He left Korea and went abroad to Japan. However, he had no intention of living as a ghost. Jung Shi-hyun believed in dispensing his own brand of justice. With him had gone Soo who refused to be left behind. He was a 'dead man' and he made Shi-hyun realize that if he really wanted to take down the higher powers, he couldn't do it alone. Shi-hyun had taken a bit of time to prepare himself, to tie up the loose ends of his former life. Eight months later, when he saw that Jin-sook was headed for a brighter future, he finally turned and headed back into the darkness, this time on his own volition.

Using the notoriety of his name and reputation, he'd constructed a drug empire from scratch. By building up his own manufacturing business in Japan, he would challenge The Syndicate's power by poaching its clients until the revenue streams died out. He'd used the knowledge and skills gathered during his eight years as an undercover, but this time no authority checked him. He would root out The Syndicate, one by one, and destroy them.

These streets would belong to him.

_Next Day_

Soo-min packed up the last of her things from her locker. She hadn't been able to tell Shin, instead choosing the coward's way out and letting another staff member inform him of her leaving. She was disappointed enough in herself; she couldn't deal with his disappointment on top of it. Closing the locker, she sighed before straightening her shoulders. She'd spoken with Paksa briefly last night but hadn't informed him of this latest development. She didn't want to face his reaction yet. She wasn't willing to lose that hard-earned deal.

"Mina?"

Soo-min looked up as a man entered the staff area, calling out her name.

"Yes, that's me. How can I help you?"

"You're needed immediately. Come with me." The man grasped Soo-min's arm and started walking. Soo-min scrambled to keep her balance, caught unaware by his hold and the order. The man was silent as they moved through corridors, walking so quickly Soo-min almost stumbled. He stopped suddenly in front of a door, then turned the latch and pushed Soo-min in.

Trying to regain her bearings, Soo-min's eyes adjusted to a dimly lit room. There were two seated occupants. She recognized the woman from the previous night and to her surprise recognized the other occupant as well. Her eyes widened. _Of all the random coincidences. "Old Fashioned?" _

"You wanted a chance to apply. Here's your test. Imagine my surprise when I found out the two of you are acquainted," The woman spoke, glancing from the man's shadowed figure to Soo-min's startled expression, "However, there's a difference between serving drinks at a bar to serving a client here."

"That's what I'm to do? Serve a client? That's the test?"

"Yes. You worked at Jin-sook's so I presume you know how to 'serve' a client." The woman stood, she was apparently leaving. "This is Min-jin, better known as 'Seoli. Frost.' He's not an easy to please. Oh, and I will be watching."

Feeling a blush paint her cheeks, Soo-min turned towards Min-jin, 'Seoli,' completely, who watched her with an inscrutable expression. _Stay calm, stay calm, _Soo-min thought in half-panic as she felt nervousness start to crawl up her throat. She was thankful for the cover the darkened room provided.

"Sit here," Min-jin's deep voice echoed through the room. He indicated to the place next to him with a nod of his head. "I don't bite, much. Unless you ask me to." His eyes assessed her reaction, mockingly.

Her blush furthering blooming at his words, Soo-min sat next to him, concealing the trembling of her hands by smoothing them over her dress. "Can I pour you a drink? I'm afraid I can't make you an 'Old Fashioned' here." She forced a teasing lilt into her voice as she reached for the bottle of liquor on the table and poured.

"Whiskey is fine," he replied and lifted the glass from Soo-min's hands and took a drink. Soo-min had never taken the opportunity to properly observe Seoli; the bar was dimly lit so his features had always been half shielded. Now, she was startled to realize that he was attractive, but carved into his features was an untouchable arrogance. _Frost indeed_, she thought, _he looks unapproachable and completely unimpressed._

She watched him finish his drink and automatically moved to pour him another. As she handed the drink to him, she felt his cool fingers brush against her own. At the unexpected sensation, she almost dropped the glass, but his fingers skillfully plucked it from her hands just in time.

"Careful, now. I don't want to end up wearing my drink." Min-jin's snide remark opened tiny cracks in Soo-min's confidence. When he handed the glass back to her, she slid her fingers along his. His hand twitched so subtly she almost missed it. _So he's a human being after all_. Before she could think about her next action, he had lifted his other hand and ran a finger across the pulse of her wrist. _He's experienced with this._ He could play on emotions, playing them like a violin to get the desired reaction. Min-jin set the drink aside, fingers still wrapped around her wrist, stroking and brushing her skin. His movements contradicted the lack of expression on his face. He looked like an impartial observer, a scientist clinically noting reactions. Soo-min refused to be a test subject.

She lifted her hand and placed it on his shoulder, feeling the muscles stir beneath her fingertips. This close in proximity he seemed…familiar. _They have the same eyes, _she realized as she looked into their dark depths. A memory rose up from the recesses of her mind. She had been in this position once. Five years ago. The past clouded over, wrapped itself around her, and the scene flickered and shifted. _The cool night air washed over her, and that mysterious, intriguing man was staring at her with an expression that made her heartbeat quicken_. He wrapped his hand behind her neck, fingers tangling in her hair, and stroked his thumb along the line of her jaw. She felt herself being pulled slowly closer.

She kept her eyes fixed on his. _He expected her to yield to him_. Her lips felt dry and she parted them to run her tongue along their edges. His eyes locked in on her movement and the flash that suddenly leapt in his eyes caused her breath to catch. Suddenly, he jerked her forwards and closed the distance between them, pressing his mouth against hers, swallowing her gasp. His fingers coaxed her mouth to open more and his lips increased their pressure. Soo-min felt herself being swept away, her eyes closing...

"It's not me you're looking at." The sudden sound of Min-jin's voice felt like a bucket of ice-cold water being poured over her. Soo-min's eyes snapped open and she pulled back. Her face paled when she realized where she was and who was in front of her. To her horror she felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes. She rapidly blinked to prevent them from spilling. Min-jin removed his hand from the back of her neck and stood up, heading towards the door.

"Go back to where you belong Mina." He spoke her name for the first time. Soo-min's head dropped down and she suddenly wanted to cry at her weakness.

She'd been defeated by her memories.

"Mina?" A woman's voice pulled Soo-min from her miserable thoughts. She'd left the club yesterday in such a state that she'd forgotten to retrieve her items from her locker. She hadn't called Paksa last night. She wasn't ready to confess to her failure yet.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"A moment of your time please." The woman motioned for Soo-min to leave her locker. Soo-min stepped away and followed the woman into a quiet section of the club. "Can I help you?" She repeated.

"From next week on, you'll be using another entrance and you'll be reporting to Mistress Sang-hee, who will teach you everything you need to know. You need to undergo quite a bit of training." The woman gave Soo-min an encouraging smile, "But first, you're going to need to come tomorrow at around 5pm to the entrance I told you about. You need to get this." The woman hiked up the skirt of her dress, exposing her thigh and the Lily tattoo that Soo-min now recognized.

"It's not so painful, don't worry!" She misread Soo-min's widening eyes as fear.

"Wait, Does this mean I didn't fail?" Soo-min could hardly believe what she was hearing.

"Oh, you failed all right." The woman laughed at Soo-min's dumbfounded expression.

"Then…how...?"

"It's what happens afterwards that ultimately determines whether you pass or not. You didn't break, and Seoli... well, he wasn't completely detached, for the first time." She laughed again at the shocked look on Soo-min's face, "Not that he'd ever confess to it, but you'll discover there are no secrets here."

"And," she continued, "He gave you your 'Lily' name. You'll find that out next week when you officially start work."

She looked Soo-min. Her smile died on her lips.

"Welcome to the real Vanity, Mina."

Author's Note: Steam, as promised! I just never specified with *who.* I don't obey the rules of K-Dramaland regardless, so nebulous characters don't sit well with me. I can't tell you how many edits and discussions this Chapter went through regarding "How Soo-min becomes a LIly." Making that particular plot point plausible took enough time that I'm now slightly behind in writing, so I need to go finish the rest of Chapter 9! Thanks as always to lilahozi for the endless hours of editing, even though you probably want to tear your hair out at my "waxing poetic." Now the real fun begins! And there's obviously more steam coming... As always, comments are appreciated!


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